Spatial Distribution of Cancer in Trivandrum, India Using Geographic Information System: Pilot Study

A remarkable finding is that Kerala’s capital Trivandrum has the highest crude (CR) cancer incidence rate (except Aizwal, North East) in India. Aim of this study was to create density map of all cancers together and common cancers by gender in Trivandrum. Cancer registry incidence data from Trivandrum Taluk for the year 2012 and Geographic Information System (GIS) were used. Incidence data was geocoded using Google Earth Software. Landforms and geomorphological map were prepared using satellite remote sensing technique. Slope map was created using 3D analyst and digital elevation model. GIS analysis was done using ArcGIS Ver. 10 software. From the cancer registry data, CRs (per 100, 000) (n=1804) were 159 in males and 157 in females in the Taluk. From density maps CRs ranged 150-494 in 58% areas (CR >300 in 14.8% area) in males and CRs ranged 150-551 in 54.5% areas (CR >300 in 14.5% area) in females. 21.7% of all cases were in coastal, 65.5% in residential and 12.8% in forest areas. In males, common cancers were lung (CR >50 in 10% area) and prostate (CR >50 in 6.5% area) and in females, breast (CR >100 in 10% area) and thyroid (CR >50 in 5% area), 36.3% of breast cancer in residential (p= 0.021) and 20.8% of thyroid cancer in coastal areas (p=0.001).In Conclusion: This study located high cancer incidence areas in Trivandrum Taluk and demonstrated effective use of cancer registry data and technological advancements in cancer research.