Geospatial analysis of cancer cases in the eastern black sea region of Turkey

Cancer has remained an important health issue in recent years. Examining variations of cancer cases temporally and spatially is necessary to develop strategies to combat its occurrence and to put cancer control programmes into practice. Creating cancer maps is necessary for obtaining information such as the location and frequency of cancer cases, the geographic distribution of cancer types and the location of the highest densities of cases. Consequently, creating more reliable and precise data infrastructures will increase the number of accurate decision making options available and aid in determining how and where to implement control strategies. Numerous studies have been conducted on cancer epidemiology, the majority of which are thematic mapping studies including the observation of spatial distribution of cancer (Pickle et al., 2007; Kulldorff et al., 2006; Brewer, 2006; Morra et al., 2006; Jacquez, 2004; Berke, 2004; Vieira et al., 2002). In addition, more specific cancer studies exist in which advanced statistical analyses are performed (Yomralioglu et al., 2009; Draper et al., 2005; Greiling et al., 2005; Oliver et al., 2005; Flinton and Walters, 2004; Diggle, 2000).