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cancer cluster

Definition of Cancer Cluster

(noun) A greater-than-expected level of cancer cases in a group of people within a defined geographic area over a period of time.

Examples of Cancer Cluster

Cancer Cluster Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: can·cer clus·ter

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /kAn-suhr klUHs-tuhr/
  • British English – /kAn-suh klUHs-tuh/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈkænsər ˈklʌstər/
  • British English – /ˈkænsə ˈklʌstə/

Usage Notes

Related Quotation

  • “Considering that cancer clusters (if related to a common a cause) are likely to be a response to a proximate (in time) change in the environment and also are likely to be a rare response to a common factor, cluster investigations should focus on the identification of factors that have impacted the community at large rather than just the individuals who contracted cancer. The likelihood of success for this type investigation would be increased if it were performed immediately upon identification of a cluster. Such an investigation can compare a community with other communities that have not experienced similar health outcomes, and focus on agents that factor into the known etiology of specific cancer types” (Goodman et al. 2014:1490).

Additional Information

Related Terms


Reference

Goodman, Michael, Judy LaKind, Jerald Fagliano, Timothy Lash, Joseph Wiemels, Deborah Winn, Chirag Patel, Juliet Eenwyk, Betsy Kohler, Enrique Schisterman, Paul Albert, and Donald Mattison. 2014. “Cancer Cluster Investigations: Review of the Past and Proposals for the Future.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 11(2):1479–99. doi:10.3390/ijerph110201479.

Works Consulted

Castree, Noel, Rob Kitchin, and Alisdair Rogers. 2013. A Dictionary of Human Geography. New York: Oxford University Press.

Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Cancer Cluster

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “cancer cluster.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/cancer-cluster/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

cancer cluster. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/cancer-cluster/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “cancer cluster.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/cancer-cluster/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“cancer cluster.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/cancer-cluster/>.