Background Information
The State Cancer Profile website was created in order to provide data and information on cancer statistics so that state and local governments may use the data to prioritize and implement cancer control activities. The details such as demographics, screening rates, smoking rates, perceptions of what causes cancer, incidence rates and other information are intended for health workers, policy makers, teachers and other information providers such that the creation of programs are prioritized in their respective areas. The website is a collaboration of the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (State Cancer Profiles, 2016).
The site is updated as soon as data on a certain topic has passed national assessment and evaluation processes, and is validated. For instance, if one goes to the topic on “Releases” one will notice that there are releases every year. The latest release is the July 2016 publication of incidence data for diagnosis year 2013 (State Cancer Profiles, 2016).
In looking at the data and analyzing the same, the user is prohibited from performing activities such as identifying patients or invading their privacy, or identifying organizations and institutions related to the data. The website is governed by the Public Health Service Act, part of which mentions that obtaining the data from the site means that the data will be used for the purposes for which the site was created, and nothing more. If any private information such as names and organizations are discovered by accident, then the discoverer is mandated to inform the administrators of the website under their “Contact Us” information (State Cancer Profiles, 2016).
Analysis
The statistical methods used to arrive at the data are:
For incidence and mortality rates:
The SEER*Stat software, which essentially makes use of age-adjusted rates (weighted average of the age-specific incidence rates); gamma distribution confidence levels, trending analysis based on percentage change on the frequencies, risk-adjusted incidence rates, standardized incidence ratios – which compare the incidence of cancer in a group against the incidence of cancer in the general population and in incidence-based mortality, which groups the incidences of mortality based on the variables related to the onset of cancer (National Cancer Institute, 2016).
For prevalence:
The ComPrev or complete prevalence software which makes use of the calculation of prevalence estimates based on the SEER Cancer Data.
The ProjPrev software which computes for the new prevalence proportions (National Cancer Institute, 2016).
For Survival:
In order to estimate survival rates, probability estimates are computed for using the CanSurv software (National Cancer Institute, 2016).
Use of Information The information in the website may be used in order to provide health planners, policy makers and others involved in the prevention of cancer, research on cancer, and treatment of patients to draft and implement policies that would best serve the communities in which the data sources are found, so that the prevalence and incidence of the same go down. One major limitation of the information is that this is for documented cases only; if there are individuals who did not report to a doctor, an institution or a health center, then they remain unreported and are not included in the overall data set.
Melanoma in the United States
Since the data is on a per state basis, the profile for California was utilized. In this profile, one can click on the information for skin melanoma. Overall, the trend for melanoma of the skin in the United States is quite stable with the incidence rate at 20.3. The states with rising trends are California, Utah, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Arkansas. The trend is decreasing for Connecticut and New Mexico. For all the other states, the trend is stable (State Cancer Profiles, 2016). Between the years 2003 and 2012, skin cancer incidence increased by 1.7% among men and increased by 1.4% among women in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). For the same period, mortality trends among men in the United States indicate a level or stable rate (Ryerson, et al, 2016).
In the state of California, the incidence of melanoma has been rising. When the data for the graph is tweaked, the incidence rate is at 1.9% for men, and for women, at 0.2%. Thus the trend for incidence for men in California is almost similar to the national average for men of 1.7%. When the details of the graph are tweaked once more, when the age range is specific for men above 50 years of age, the incidence is even higher at 2.5% (State Cancer Profiles, 2016). Thus the government of California can implement programs that would help increase awareness of the disease especially among men in this age bracket. Educational programs can be implemented in workplaces for this purpose. Community programs that will promote skin protection can also be implemented in community centers so that the level of awareness is once more raised. Retailers and merchandisers can also be tapped by local governments to provide samples of skin protection products not only to the older men, but also to all sectors of society.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2016. Skin Cancer Trends. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/statistics/trends.htm
National Cancer Institute. 2016. Methods and Tools: Cancer Incidence and Mortality. Retrieved from: https://surveillance.cancer.gov/tools/inc_mort.html
National Cancer Institute. 2016. Methods and Tools Prevalence of Cancer. Retrieved from: https://surveillance.cancer.gov/tools/prevalence.html
National Cancer Institute. 2016. Methods and Tools: Cancer Survival Statistics. Retrieved from: https://surveillance.cancer.gov/tools/survival.html
Ryerson AB, Eheman CR, Altekruse SF, Ward JW, Jemal A, Sherman RL, Henley SJ, Holtzman D, Lake A, Noone AM, Anderson RN, Ma J, Ly KN, Cronin KA, Penberthy L, Kohler BA. Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975–2012, featuring the increasing incidence of liver cancer Cancer 2016;122(9):10.1002/cncr.29936.
