Cheraw Chronicle - Cancer clusters in South Carolina a growing concern - 0 views
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Energy Net on 05 Apr 10"People often go to the doctor thinking in their minds that they are a picture of health, and boom, it happens. However, there are times when a doctor hits a person with those dreaded words that something is "not just right" with our bodies. Hearing bad news about our health is never welcomed, especially when it involves the "C" word, cancer. There are numerous factors that can cause cancer. A large portion of these are environmental. Because of that, organizations such as the South Carolina Cancer Registry Office and the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) research and trying to uncover cancer clusters. A cancer cluster is a location or period of time where in a greater-than-expected number of cancer cases occur. According to the DHEC, in order for a true cancer cluster to exist, the number of cancers occurring must be significantly more than would be expected by chance. The report also states that additionally, a cancer cluster would more likely involve more rare types of cancer rather than more common types, such as lung, breast, prostate, or colon. A cancer cluster would usually occur with excess in one specific type of cancer rather than in several different types of cancer. Along with statistical testing, there are several other criteria that determine whether a true cancer cluster exists. "