A “catchment area” is a geographic area that a cancer center expects to serve through clinical services, research, community engagement, and outreach. Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center’s catchment area includes the entire state of Iowa. Holden Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center in Iowa. Patients from across the state come to Holden to receive cancer care.
Providing cancer care and outreach to rural residents is a big part of Holden’s services. Approximately 38% of Iowa’s 3.2 million residents live in a rural county.1 Among Iowa’s 99 counties, 77 are rural, while only 22 are urban.2 While cancer incidence rates tend to be lower in rural Iowa, rural residents have higher cancer mortality rates compared to urban residents in Iowa.3 Iowa has a higher overall crude cancer rate in its rural population. In addition, the overall cancer rate in both urban and rural areas has increased in the most recent 10 years of data.4-5The urban rate has increased by 0.8% while the rural rate has increased by 0.1%.4-5
Further, among the 50 states, Iowa has the 20th highest proportion of population over 65 years of age (18%) and that proportion is higher in rural areas.6 This is important because age is the leading risk factor for cancer – meaning that cancer is more common among those aged over 65 years.7
Catchment Area Data
Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center strives to understand how cancer impacts Iowans using different kinds of data (cancer rates, health-promoting behaviors, cancer screening, interview data with community partners), as well as input from its Community Advisory Board. Below you will find a list of tools, resources, and reports that will help you better understand cancer across the state of Iowa. . To help you determine which resource to use, the Iowa Cancer Registry developed a Data Tool Decision Tree to meet your cancer data needs.
Cancer in Iowa Reports
Each year, the Iowa Cancer Registry creates a report with information on the top 10 cancers for males and females in Iowa. Each year, in-depth information on a selected type of cancer or topic is also provided.
Cancer in Iowa Spotlight Series
Using input and feedback from HCCC researchers, the Iowa Cancer Registry has created a series of infographics that provide data, risk factors, prevention tips, and an overview of cancers and cancer-related topics that are impacting Iowans.
Interactive Iowa Data Tools
The Iowa Cancer Registry houses several interactive mapping tools with Iowa-specific cancer data. Please review the details below to determine which tool will best suit your data needs.
Cancer Analytics & Maps for Small Areas (CAMSA)
CAMSA offers an interactive map to explore age-adjusted cancer incidence and risk probability estimates at the ZIP code (ZCTA) or county level for several cancer sites, including colorectal, female breast, cervical, liver, lung, melanoma, non-Hodgkins’s lymphoma and prostate. CAMSA also allows you to examine population density at the ZIP code or county level. CAMSA uses a Bayesian hierarchical model to produce estimates for small areas; therefore, the estimates produced are approximated values based on modeled data. More information on how the tool’s estimates are generated can be found here, and video tutorials for using CAMSA can be accessed on the Iowa Cancer Registry website.
Iowa Cancer InFocus
Cancer InFocus is a data gathering and visualization platform. The suite of tools provides interactive maps where one can examine true date values for county-level cancer incidence and mortality data alongside population demographics, social drivers of health, and behavioral risk factors. Cancer InFocus allows users to create their own custom data maps by selecting a geographic level, category of variables and variable of interest. Users can also layer in additional geographies and location data. (CIF)² (Bivariate) is a reimagining of Cancer InFocus that allows users to visualize the relationship between two variables at the same time. Users can create their own custom bivariate data maps and scatterplots by selecting two variables of interest (X and Y). Data values will be placed into three categories (Low/Medium/High) for each variable and analyzed, helping to reveal possible ecologic associations. CIF Profiles allows users to create their own custom Cancer InFocus data profile for a county or Area Development District by selecting a geographic level, category of variables and area of interest.
County-level Cancer Rates
This interactive Iowa cancer data tool allows users to compute case counts, incidence and mortality rates for specific cancer sites by year of diagnosis, age, gender, race and county. Data can be displayed in tabular form or depicted in maps or bar charts. The tool was developed by the Kentucky Cancer Registry and is updated annually.
Iowa Cancer Zones Map
This interactive mapping tool helps one examine cancer incidence and population demographics by zones. The Iowa Cancer Registry identified 48 cancer zones throughout Iowa that combine and/or split counties in meaningful ways for Iowans. For example, some rural counties (where rates would typically be censored due to small counts) have been grouped together in one zone, whereas many of our urban areas have been assigned to their own zone. With these zones the Iowa Cancer Registry aims to provide data for geographies beyond county-level statistics to better serve cancer control, public health, and policy efforts. Zones have been designed so that they have a minimum population of 50,000 residents, have similar demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and are geographically compact.
Iowa Cancer Plan
The Iowa Cancer Plan brings Iowans together to reduce the burden of cancer in Iowa. Created by experts and Iowans across the state, including a number of HCCC researchers and clinicians, the Iowa Cancer Plan includes five chapters focused on cancer as it relates to: Health Equity, Prevention and Risk Reduction, Early Detection and Screening, Diagnosis and Cancer-Directed Therapy, and Survivorship and End-of-Life Care. Each chapter provides concrete ways that partners can work together to lower cancer rates in Iowa.
You can learn more about the Iowa Cancer Consortium and how you can use the Iowa Cancer Plan as a tool for your research in this Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Grand Rounds presentation.
Iowa Cancer Plan Stories
The Iowa Cancer Consortium has produced several short videos that describe the experiences of Iowa cancer survivors.
Other Reports
Iowa Counties Health Study 2020: The purpose of the Iowa Counties Health Study 2020 was to 1) assess perceptions, health behaviors, and disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on cancer prevention and control and 2) examine differences between rural and urban respondents in Iowa. The linked report describes the study methods and provides a table of results.
Project Health Prostate Cancer Survey: This infographic provides an overview of the results of the Project Health prostate cancer survey, which was funded in part by Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and completed by community partners. The full report on the Project Health Prostate Cancer Survey can be accessed here.
References
- US Department of Agriculture. State Fact Sheets: Iowa. USDA Economic Research Service. Updated September 5, 2024. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=4035&StateFIPS=19&StateName=Iowa
- US Department of Agriculture. Rural-Urban Continuum Codes 2023. USDA Economic Research Service. Updated January 22, 2024. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-continuum-codes/
- West MM, Nash, SH, Kahl AR, Olson DB, Askelson NM, Chrischilles E, et al. Cancer in Iowa 2022. Iowa Cancer Registry. Published February 2022. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://shri.public-health.uiowa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/cancer-in-iowa-2022.pdf
- Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program (www.seer.cancer.gov) SEER*Stat Database: Incidence - SEER Research Plus Data, 17 Registries, Nov 2023 Sub (2000-2021) - Linked To County Attributes - Total U.S., 1969-2022 Counties, National Cancer Institute, DCCPS, Surveillance Research Program, released April 2024, based on the November 2023 submission.
- Joinpoint Regression Program, Version 5.2.0.0 - April 2024; Statistical Methodology and Applications Branch, Surveillance Research Program, National Cancer Institute.
- America’s Health Rankings. Population – Age 65+ in United States. Updated 2022. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/pct_65plus
- National Cancer Institute. Age and Cancer Risk. US Department of Health and Human Services. Updated March 5, 2021. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/age