Abstract
THE General Register Office has initiated a series of occasional publications under the title of "Studies on Medical and Population Subjects". The purpose of the series is to present a more detailed treatment of certain important subjects than is possible in the Registrar General‘s Annual Statistical Review. The first publication is by Dr. Percy Stocks, and studies geographical variations in mortality from cancer of various sites (Regional and Local Differences in Cancer Death Rates. London: H.M. Stationery Office. Is. net). One of the underlying difficulties in such a study is the uncertainty as to the accuracy of the certified cause of death, particularly in relation to inaccessible sites. It is, however, impossible to dismiss all the local differences demonstrated by Dr. Stocks as due to such variations in certification practice, and this study investigates other possible explanations. Correlations with social indices show a marked relationship with stomach cancer, but none with lung cancer. However, lung cancer mortality is closely associated with annual hours of sunshine in twenty large towns, and this suggests that a beneficial effect of sunshine or a deleterious effect of smoke may operate. A grouping of London boroughs according to their water supply is reminiscent of Farr and cholera, but is not so revealing. Dr. Stocks has brought together a great deal of information and has put forward many suggestions for more intensive research.
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Geographical Distribution of Deaths from Cancer. Nature 161, 17 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161017b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161017b0