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Cancer Clusters
Jun 4, 2004 10:50 AM
Cancer Facts
Date reviewed: 2/26/2004
Key Points
- Cancer clusters may be suspected when people report that several family members, friends, neighbors, or coworkers have been diagnosed with the same or related cancers (see Defining Disease Clusters section).
- Some amount of clustering may occur simply by chance (see Facts About Cancer Clusters section).
- Epidemiologists (scientists who study the frequency, distribution, causes, and control of diseases in populations) investigate suspected cancer clusters (see Facts About Cancer Clusters section).
- Concerned individuals may report a suspected cancer cluster to their local health department or state cancer registry (see Reporting Suspected Cancer Clusters section).
- Other resources may provide additional information about cancer clusters, cancer incidence and mortality, and environmental risk factors for cancer (see Resources section).
