Visualizing Cancer Incidence and Mortality Estimates by Congressional Districts, United States 2012-2016.

backgroundCancer incidence and death rates in the United States are often published at the county or statelevels; examining cancer statistics at the congressional district (CD) level allows decision makers to better understand how cancer is impacting the specific populations they represent.

methodsCancer incidence data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. Mortality data were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics. CD rates were estimated by assigning the county-level age-adjusted rates to the census block and weighting those by the block population proportion of the CD. Those weighted rates were then aggregated over the blocks within the CD to estimate the district rate. Incidence rate estimates for 406 CDs and death rate estimates for 436 CDs were reported according to the boundaries for the 115th Congress of the United States. Maps showing rate estimates for all cancers combined, lung/bronchus, colorectal, female breast, cervical, and prostate cancer are presented by sex and race/ethnicity.

resultsThe distribution of cancer incidence and death rates by CDs show similar patterns to those that have been observed at the county and state levels, with the highest cancer incidence and death rates observed in CDs in the South and Eastern regions.

conclusionThis examination of cancer rates at the CD-level provides data that can be used to inform cancer control strategies at the local and national levels. Displaying the data with the Data Visualizations tool makes it easily accessible to the public and decision makers.