California Cancer Reporting System Standards Volume I: Abstracting and Coding Procedures
The systematic gathering of information about the incidence of cancer in designated populations is an indispensable tool in the struggle to contain the disease. With access to reliable statistics on the occurrence of different types of cancer, the people affected, the treatment provided, and other epidemiological factors, researchers and public health officials are better able to identify problems and evaluate remedies. Findings from such studies include possible environmental influences on the development of neoplasms, the susceptibility of certain ethnic and social groups to particular neoplasms, the need for oncology services in various locales, and the appropriateness of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.