Geographical Pathology In Cancer Epidemiology

This book integrates the disciplines of cancer pathology and epidemiology to provide a synergistic and complementary approach to understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer. This book provides relevant information on the diagnostic, prognostic and predictive molecular pathology of cancer. Epidemiological studies, including descriptive epidemiology, risk factors and molecular mechanisms of disease inform on the etiology and progression of cancer. The text concentrates on major cancers that are currently prevalent and those for which substantial molecular, pathological and epidemiological data is available. Each section is designed to provide an overview of that cancer type in terms of basic biology, review the current epidemiological data surrounding that cancer type and provide information on common practices and challenges related to the molecular pathology of that cancer type. Several relevant techniques in molecular pathology, which facilitate diagnosis and treatment are also explored. Pathology and Epidemiology of Cancer provides a succinct and comprehensive overview of multiple cancer types to guide clinicians during patient care and to guide scientists for innovations in research. It represents an integral resource for pathologists, epidemiologists, medical students as well as translational, basic and clinical science researchers who are all working to progress the field of cancer in terms of diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

The preceding decade has seen the production of many cancer at lases. As with other techniques of descriptive epidemiology, these atlases have proved valuable in identifying areas for further re sear~h employing the methods of analytical epidemiology. How ever, the various cancer atlases produceq to date have failed to pro vide a common format of presentation, which has limited their comparability and frustrated in a large measure any attempt to compare risks across national boundaries, boundaries which in terms of environmental exposures may have little meaning. In this volume, many features of cancer atlases are presented and there are discussions on the areas where moves towards standardization could greatly increase the utility of the finished product. In contrast to topographic maps, i. e., representations of natural and man-made features on the surface of the earth, thematic maps concentrate on displaying the geographical occurrence and varia tion of a single phenomenon - the "theme" of the map. The link between thematic and base mapping is rather strong as the themat ic information to be depicted is of greater value if displayed on an accurate base map. Further, the thematic map generally uses statis tical data which are frequently related to internal administrative boundaries for enumeration. The major reason for constructing a thematic map is to discover the spatial structure of the theme of the map and to then relate the structure to some aspects of the under lying environment.

Requirements in terms of population data, disease incidence and mortality are considered and related to the scale at which a study is being carried out. Statistical methods are reviewed for large scale correlation studies, intermediate scale smoothing excercises, and small-scale clustering investigations, plus much more.

Originally published in 1987 this textbook is a comprehensive introduction to the rapidly developing field of medical geography. It illustrates the ideas, methods and debates that inform contemporary approaches to the subject, demonstrating the potential of a social and environmental approach to illness and health. The central theme is the need to reject an exclusively biological approach to health. The authors examine both the geography of health care and outline a selection of health service planning initiatives in both North America and Europe.