The data were retrieved from the New York State Department of Health website, but the data originate from the New York State Cancer Registry; website: http://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/cancer/registry/zipcode/lung/onondaga.htm.

These data show lung and bronchus cancer cases by ZIP code between 2005 and 2009. The original purpose of the NYS Cancer Registry, under the New York State Public Health Law, is to audit hospitals, laboratories and other healthcare providers to make sure that necessary reports are made.

The data are collected by physicians, dentists, laboratories, and other healthcare providers. These sources must notify the NYSDOH of every case of cancer or other malignant disease. Through this registry, the NYSDOH collects, processes and reports information about New Yorkers diagnosed with cancer.

There are some limitations with lung and bronchus cancer data. Cancer is more common in elderly people, so the age of the people who live in a ZIP Code is an important factor. The expected number of cases is the number of people in a given ZIP code that would be expected to develop cancer within a five-year period if the ZIP code had the same incidence rate of cancer as the entire state. The mathematics used to calculate the expected number of cases takes into account age and population size by using age adjustment. Moreover, NYSDOH must keep information about individuals with cancer confidential to protect their privacy, so data are aggregated to ZIP code. The NYSDOH recognizes that the data cannot conclusively show the environmental causes of cancer, considering most cancers appear five to forty years after exposure to a cancer causing substance. Lastly, many people move throughout their lifetime making it difficult to link exposures to where a person lives.

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