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Cancer InFocus

DATA SOURCES

Data for Cancer InFocus were gathered from several publicly available sources. Due to automated data collection efforts, years on sources will change over time. The years given here represent the most recently available data and reflect what is found on Cancer InFocus: Catchment Areas. The exact years available in a specific cancer center's Cancer InFocus application may vary depending on how recently the responsible institution has updated them.


Cancer Incidence and Mortality

State Cancer Profiles (SCP)

SCP is an interactive map engine produced in collaboration between the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was developed with the idea to provide a geographic profile of cancer burden in the United States and reveal geographic disparities in cancer incidence, mortality, risk factors for cancer, and cancer screening, across different population subgroups. The target audiences are health planners, policy makers, and cancer information providers who need quick and easy access to cancer related data and maps to inform and prioritize investments in cancer control.

Cancer incidence data from SCP used in Cancer InFocus comes from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results SEER*Stat Database and from the National Program of Cancer Registries where applicable. The most recently available incidence data are the 5-year average age-adjusted rates per 100,00 people for 2016-2020.

Cancer mortality data from SCP used in Cancer InFocus comes from the National Vital Statistics System public use data file. The most recently available mortality data are the 5-year age-adjusted mortality rates per 100,000 people for 2016-2020.


Sociodemographics, Economics & Insurnace, and Housing & Transportation

American Community Survey (ACS), 5-Year Estimates, U.S. Census Bureau

ACS is a nationally representative sample of households that are randomly selected to participate. This survey provides population estimates of demographic information for various geographic areas, aggregated over five consecutive years.

Cancer InFocus contains the following indicators from the ACS. The most recently available ACS data are the 2017-2021 5-year estimates:

Indicator ACS Table Population Used
Total Population B01001 Total population
Under 18 Years Old B01001 Total population
18 to 64 Years Old B01001 Total population
Over 64 Years Old B01001 Total population
White (non-Hispanic) B01001H White alone, not Hispanic or Latino population
Black (non-Hispanic) B01001B People who are Black or African American alone
Hispanic B01001I People who are Hispanic or Latino
Asian (non-Hispanic) B01001D People who are Asian alone
Other Non-Hispanic Races B03002 Total population
(calculated by subtracting other indicators)
Did Not Attend High School B15003 Population 25 years and over
Graduated High School B15003 Population 25 years and over
Graduated College B15003 Population 25 years and over
Completed a Graduate Degree B15003 Population 25 years and over
Annual Labor Force Participation Rate B23025 Population 16 years and over
Annual Unemployment Rate B23025 Population 16 years and over
Enrolled in Medicaid C27007 Civilian noninstitutionalized population
Household Income ($) B19013 Households
Insured B27001 Civilian noninstitutionalized population
Living Below Poverty B17026 Families
Received TANF or SNAP Public Assistance B19058 Households
Uninsured B27001 Civilian noninstitutionalized population
Crowded Homes DP04 Housing units
High Rent Burden B25070 Renter-occupied housing units
Homes without Broadband Internet DP02 Households
Homes without Complete Plumbing DP04 Housing units
Housing in Mobile Homes DP04 Housing units
Housing in Multi-Unit Structures DP04 Housing units
Median Gross Rent ($) DP04 Housing units
Median Home Value ($) DP04 Housing units
Median Monthly Mortgage ($) DP04 Housing units
No Household Vehicle Access B08141 Workers 16 years and over in households
Owner-occupied Housing Units DP04 Housing units
Single Parent Homes B11012 Households
Vacant Housing B25002 Housing units
Black Population Living Below Poverty B17010B Families with a householder who is Black or African-American alone
Black Population without Health Insurance C27001B Black or African-American alone civilian noninstitutionalized population
Children without Health Insurance B27010 Civilian noninstitutionalized population
Economic Segregation B19001 Households
Gender Pay Gap B24022 Full=time, year-round civilian employed population 16 years and over
Hispanic Population Living Below Poverty B17010I Families with a householder who is Hispanic or Latino
Hispanic Population without Health Insurance C27001I Hispanic or Latino civilian noninstitutionalized population
Income Inequality
(Gini Coefficient)
B19083 Households
Lack Proficiency in English B16005 Population 5 years and over
Racial Economic Segregation B19001A/B Households with a householder who is White alone/Black or African-American alone
Racial Segregation B03002 Total population

Economic Segregation, Racial Segregation, and Racial Economic Segregation as indices referred to collectively as Indices of Concentrations at the Extremes. These are intended to look at the difference in the proportions of most versus least privileged individuals in an area. For Economic Segregation, most privileged is defined as annual income over $150,000, whereas least privileged is annual income under $30,000. For Racial Segregation, most privileged is White race and least privileged is Black race. For Racial Economic Segregation, most privileged is White race with annual income over $150,000 and least privileged is Black race with annual income under $30,000. These indices range between -1 and +1, with values approaching +1 showing segregation towards greater privilege and values approaching -1 showing segregation towards less privilege.

Gender Pay Gap measures the cents fewer on the dollar that the median female in an area makes per dollar the median male in that area makes. Positive values indicate that the median male makes more than the median female; negative values indicate that the median female makes more than the median male.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

The BLS measures labor market activity, working conditions, price changes, and productivity in the U.S. economy to support public and private decision making. Cancer InFocus uses BLS to obtain the monthly unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted). This data is updated monthly and typically runs on a two month delay. BLS data is not included in the Cancer InFocus mapping applications.


Screening & Risk Factors and Other Health Factors

PLACES

PLACES is a collaboration between CDC, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the CDC Foundation. PLACES provides health data for small areas across the country. This allows local health departments and jurisdictions, regardless of population size and rurality, to better understand the burden and geographic distribution of health measures in their areas and assist them in planning public health interventions.

PLACES provides model-based, population-level analysis and community estimates of health measures to all counties, places (incorporated and census designated places), census tracts, and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) across the United States.

Cancer InFocus contains the following indicators from the PLACES, which are based off of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System:

Indicator Most Recent Survey Variable Name Most Recent Year Used
Met Breast Screening Recommendations _MAM5023 2020
Had Pap Test in Last 3 Years,
Age 21-65
_RFPAP35 2020
Met Colorectal Screening Recommendations _CRCREC 2020
Currently Smoke (adults) _RFSMOK3 2020
Obese (BMI over 30) _BMI5CAT 2020
Physically Inactive _TOTINDA 2020
Binge Drink _RFBING5 2020
Sleep < 7 Hours a Night SLEPTIM1 2020
History of Cancer Diagnosis CHCOCNCR 2020
Report Fair or Poor Overall Health _RFHLTH 2020
Report Frequent Physical Health Distress _PHYS14D 2020
Report Frequent Mental Health Distress _MENT14D 2020
Have Depression ADDEPEV3 2020
Diagnosed with Diabetes DIABETE4 2020
Have High Blood Pressure _RFHYPE5 2019
On Blood Pressure Medicine BPMEDS 2019
Have Coronary Heart Disease CVDCRHD4 2020
Had a Stroke CVDSTRK3 2020
Have Chronic Kidney Disease CHCKDNY2 2020
Diagnosed with Asthma _LTASTH1 2020
Have COPD CHCCOPD2 2020
All Adult Teeth Lost _ALTETH3 2020
Had a Medical Checkup in the Last Year CHECKUP1 2020
Had a Dental Visit in the Last Year _DENVST3 2020

Environment

Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA ERS)

The mission of USDA’s Economic Research Service is to anticipate trends and emerging issues in agriculture, food, the environment, and rural America and to conduct high-quality, objective economic research to inform and enhance public and private decision making. ERS research and analysis covers a broad range of economic and policy topics, including food/nutrition and poverty.

Cancer InFocus uses the indicator Food Deserts (LILA Vehicle) from the USDA ERS. The most recently available data is from 2015.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

The FCC regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the Commission is the federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing America’s communications law and regulations.

Cancer InFocus uses the FCC Form 477 broadband data on average maximum advertised upload and download speeds at the Census block group level. This data is updated twice yearly in June and December and runs about one year behind. FCC data is not included in the Cancer InFocus mapping applications.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Justice Screening (EJScreen)

EJScreen is an EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic socioeconomic indicators.

Cancer InFocus uses the 12 raw environmental justice indicator variables given at the Census tract level from the 2022 EJScreen dataset.

EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS)

The EPA's SDWIS databases store information about drinking water. The federal version (SDWIS/FED) stores the information the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to monitor approximately 156,000 public water systems.

Cancer InFocus uses the indicator Public Water Systems Violations (Health Based) from the SDWIS. This data is aggregated from the most recently completed year back to 2016.


Facilities & Providers

EPA Envirofacts

The Envirofacts Multisystem Search integrates information from a variety of databases and includes latitude and longitude information. Each of these databases contains information about facilities that are required to report activity to a state or federal system.

Cancer InFocus draws information on Superfund sites from the Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS) and information on facilities releasing known carcinogens from the Toxic Release Inventory. Superfund site data is available in real-time; the most recently available Toxic Release Inventory data is from 2021.

Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health & Human Services

HRSA programs provide health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable. This includes people living with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, mothers and their families, and those otherwise unable to access high quality health care. HRSA also supports access to health care in rural areas, the training of health professionals, the distribution of providers to areas where they are needed most, and improvements in health care delivery.

Cancer InFocus uses facility data for Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), FQHC Look-a-Likes (FQHC LAL), Rural Health Clinics (RHC), and Correctional Facility clinics. All of these facilities fall under the general classification of Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) facilities. This data is available in real-time, reflecting all such facilities currently recognized by HRSA.

Lung Cancer Screening Registry (LCSR), American College of Radiology

The ACR Lung Cancer Screening Registry (LCSR) is designed to systematically audit the quality of interpretation of screening lung CT exams. The registry is based on the ACR Lung Imaging Reporting and Data System (Lung-RADS), which is the product of the ACR Lung Cancer Screening Committee subgroup on Lung-RADS. This Lung-RADS system is a quality assurance tool designed to standardize lung cancer screening CT reporting and management recommendations, reduce confusion in lung cancer screening CT interpretations and facilitate outcome monitoring. The ACR LCSR will capture Lung-RADS recommendations and monitor and compare appropriate use of Lung-RADS

Cancer InFocus uses the location data for Lung Cancer Screening Sites from the LCSR. This data is available in real-time, reflecting active lung cancer screening locations in the LCSR.

Note: Not all lung cancer screening sites are required to be a part of the LCSR. The ACR estimates that the LCSR reflects between 80%-90% of all active sites in the nation.

National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES)

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has developed the NPPES to assign unique identifiers to health care providers. The National Provider Indentifier (NPI) has been the standard identifier for all HIPAA-covered entities (health care providers) since May 23, 2007. Small health plans were required to obtain and use an NPI by May 23, 2008.

Cancer InFocus uses the location data for gastroenterologists and colon & rectal surgeons from the NPPES. This data is available in real-time, reflecting all practicing providers.

United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Mammography Quality Standards Act requires mammography facilities across the nation to meet uniform quality standards. Congress passed this law in 1992 to assure high-quality mammography for early breast cancer detection, which can lead to early treatment, a range of treatment options, and increased chances of survival. Under the law, all mammography facilities must: 1) be accredited by an FDA-approved accreditation body, 2) be certified by FDA, or its State, as meeting the standards, 3) undergo an annual MQSA inspection, and 4) prominently display the certificate issued by the agency.

Cancer InFocus uses the location data for Mammography Sites from the FDA Certified Mammography Facilities list. This data is updated on a weekly basis to reflect real-time presence of mammography facilities.