There are, however, some limitations to the atlas data. The atlas is less useful in generating research leads for cancer sites in which death rates do not vary much across the country, such as cancers of the pancreas and brain. In addition, for cancer sites with higher survival rates, such as breast and cervix, it is difficult to tell whether the geographic variation reflects environmental influences, factors related to medical care and health care delivery systems, reporting practices, migration patterns, or combinations of these variables. The Atlas of Cancer Mortality in the United States, 1950-94 is a continuation of the cancer mapping project in NCI's epidemiology program. In addition, for the first time, an interactive version of the data will be available on the Internet.
Web accessibility makes several new features possible.
Not only can the maps, text, tables, and figures from the hard copy be downloaded from the Web site, but national and state mortality rates are also available, as are the tabulated data used to generate the maps. Another feature of the atlas Web site is that the user can create customized maps. For example, the user can compare rates in different time periods, look at rates for any cancer in any county, zoom and pan different areas of the country, and make color selections.