Ellen F. Heineman, Ph.D.National Cancer InstituteEpidemiology & Genetics Research Program

The GIS for the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project

The northeastern United States has had high rates of breast cancer

The LIBCSP focuses on Long Island - Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York

Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP)

• Part of the overall research approach of the National Institutes of Health

• Mandated by Public Law 103-43

• Funded and coordinated by NCI and NIEHS

• Consists of more than 10 research studies

• Includes a GIS

Long Island GIS Objectives

• Develop an effective tool for investigating environmental factors that may contribute to breast cancer

• Help share health related and environmental information with the community

What questions can be addressed?• What are the rates of breast cancer in the

community (overall, in smaller areas)?• Can we identify clusters of cases, or areas

with significantly higher rates?• Where might exposures of interest (to

scientists, to the community) come from?• Are there correlations -- spatial

relationships -- between disease and potential exposures?

• More sophisticated: Are potential environmental exposures linked with breast cancer, taking other factors into account?

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Islip

Brookhaven

Smithtown

Riverhead

Babylon

Poospatuck

Long Island Sound

Great South BayExample: Are disease rates “near” waste sites the same as in areas outside the buffers?

New York

New Jersey

Connecticut

Massachusetts

Pennsylvania

RhodeIsland

Vermont New Hampshire

Ulster

Pike

Suffolk

Sullivan

Orange

Berkshire

Litchfield

Ocean

Dutchess

Greene

Fairfield

Sussex

Burlington

Morris

Columbia

Hampden

New London

Tolland

New Haven

Warren

Monmouth

Hunterdon

Westchester

Nassau

Middlesex

Bergen

Somerset

Putnam

Mercer

Washington

Passaic

Essex

Rockland

Union

Queens

Kings

Hudson

Bronx

Richmond

New York

Middlesex

Hartford

0 50 100 Miles

100 Mile Radius CountiesBuffer CountiesNassau & Suffolk Counties

Geographic extent of the GIS

Datasets will include

• Geospatial• Demographic • Health• Environment

– Federal – State– County– Private

Geospatial

• Base Maps: – Cadastral Data (tax lots, parcels)– Political Boundaries– Roads– Railroads– Hydrology (water supply, rivers,

streams)– Aerial Photography and Satellite

Imagery

Demographic• Census Data:

– Counts of the population– Descriptive information about

individuals Age Race

Gender Income groupings

– Descriptive information about householdsType and age of housingRural or urban

• National Nutritional Health and Lifestyle Survey

Health

• Medical outcomes– State Cancer Registry– Medicare– Hospital discharges

• Medical facilities

Environmental

• Land use and land cover

• Utilities (electrical, gas, water…)

• Traffic volume

• Hazardous materials: usage, storage, and disposal

• Pesticide / chemical use or contamination

• Industrial release of chemicals to air,

water, and soil continued…

Environmental, continued

• Air quality monitoring results

• Drinking water analysis (pesticides, metals, volatile organic compounds)

• Weather and climate information

• Radiation information

On the web at… www.healthgis-li.com

• Progress on development of the GIS• Supplementary info, links• Town meetings• Future: maps and information for public

www.healthgis-li.com

Important issues• Data are imperfect

– Examples: addresses, sparse data, data collected for other purposes

– Potential exposure not necessarily actual exposure

– Time frame and latency of cancer– Substitutions and additions may be

recommended as we go along

• The website will not include software• The eye is not a good analytic tool• Confidentiality

Unique aspects of the GIS for the LIBCSP

• Concerted investment of effort and funds to integrate GIS into an epidemiologic study of breast cancer

• Community input and access• Systematic attempt to include high

quality data, comprehensive metadata• A prototype and resource for future

studies