Introduction: The Importance of Data in Cancer Research
Peace be upon you. This segment is important for colleagues interested in scientific research, particularly research related to cancer. At the beginning of his research, the researcher needs to know the most important types of cancer in a particular country, or a group of countries, or a specific geographic area.
This information is important to you for several reasons:
- Choosing the Appropriate Research Question: Prioritizing the most prevalent or most deadly cancers.
- Submitting Support Requests: Convincing funding agencies of the importance of the topic based on accurate statistics.
- Writing the Scientific Paper: Documenting the importance of a particular type of cancer in the introduction and discussion sections.
Instead of searching through many papers, the Cancer Today website provides this information accurately and concisely. We will review with you how to invest in this website in an enjoyable and beneficial way by answering hypothetical research questions.
First: Accessing the Website and Familiarizing with the Interface
To access the website, search for "Cancer Today" on the Google search engine, then choose the first option. Different sections will appear; we choose Data Visualization (Data Visualization), which is the best way to review data interactively and beautifully.
Second: Practical Applications and Research Questions
1. What are the most common cancers in certain countries? (Example: Egypt, Jordan, Syria)
- From the Data Visualization list, we choose Pie Chart.
- In the display box (Display), we choose Cancer.
- We specify the required countries (Egypt, Jordan, Syria).
- Result: It shows that the most common cancers in these countries combined is breast cancer (Breast Cancer) at a rate of 18.2%, followed by liver cancer at 15.4%, then bladder cancer at 7.8%.
2. What are the most common childhood cancers?
- We modify the age scale (Scale) from (0-85) to (0-14) years.
- Result: We notice a change in the types of cancer, where "leukemia" takes the lead, followed by brain cancers, then "non-Hodgkin's lymphoma".
3. Obtaining a World Map of Incidence Rates (Heat Map)
- We choose Heat Map from the Data Visualization homepage.
- The map displays the number of people affected per 100,000 people.
- The Ranking option can be used to rank countries by incidence rates; where darker colors indicate higher rates.
4. Identifying the countries most affected by a particular type (Example: liver cancer)
- By clicking on the Most Common option, we can choose a specific type such as (Liver Cancer).
- The map will change to show the countries where this type is prevalent, and we notice, for example, that Egypt is one of the countries with high rates of liver cancer.
5. Map of deaths resulting from a particular cancer (Mortality)
- From the Heat Map option, we choose Mortality instead of (Incidence).
- We specify the type of cancer (for example: Bladder Cancer).
- The map will show mortality rates per 100,000 people, and we notice high rates in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq.
Third: Advanced Comparisons
Comparing Incidence Rates vs. Mortality
If we want to compare the incidence rates of lung cancer versus deaths from it in Algeria:
- We choose the Incidence vs Mortality icon.
- We specify the country (Algeria) and type of cancer (Lung Cancer).
- The graph shows us that the incidence rate is around 12 per 100,000, while deaths exceed 10 per 100,000, giving an impression of the danger of this type.
Comparing Two Countries in a Specific Type of Cancer
To compare colorectal cancer (Colorectal Cancer) between Palestine and Egypt:
- We choose Simple Bars.
- We specify the type of cancer and the two countries.
- We notice that the rates in Palestine are higher, which may be due to genetic reasons related to the population composition (such as certain mutations among Ashkenazi Jews leading to higher incidences).
Fourth: Analyzing Data by Gender and Age
We can compare the most common cancers in males versus females for the age group under 50 years in Syria:
- We choose the Males vs Females icon.
- We move the age bar up to age 49.
- Result: Breast cancer appears as the highest rate among females, while the rates for leukemia are similar between genders with a slight increase in males, and females have higher rates of thyroid gland cancer.
Fifth: Extracting Tables and Special Reports
Displaying Exact Numbers (Tables)
If you want to display the actual numbers of cases in the Gulf countries ranked in descending order:
- We choose Tables by Populations.
- We add the Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Bahrain).
- By clicking on the numbers box (Numbers), the website will sort them in descending order based on the number of cases.
Brief Reports for Countries (Fact Sheets)
To obtain a comprehensive summary (Snapshot) of the situation in the world or a particular country:
- We go to the Fact Sheets section.
- When choosing World, it gives us statistics for 2022 for the number of new cases, deaths, and the top 5 most common cancers.
- You can customize the search for a particular country (such as Iraq) to obtain a detailed report specific to it that includes all vital statistics related to cancer.
Conclusion:
This website is a very useful tool for every researcher. We hope that this explanation will be a means of knowledge and assistance to you in your research. We will meet you in other segments, and peace be upon you.