title: The geographical clusters of gastrointestinal tract cancer in fars province, southern iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gastrointestinal tract cancer (GI.C) is one of the common cancers in world-wide. The incidence rate of it is different in various geographical regions. This study was performed to assess spatial clusters of the occurrence of GI.C in Fars Province.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, the new cases were 4569 cases from 2001 to 2009. The crude incidence rates were standardized based on world population for both sexes. The spatial analysis was conducted using the geographical information systems. We used the local Indicators of spatial association measure, in order to identify local spatial clusters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From a total of the new cases, 62.8% cases were male. The most common GI.Cs were stomach and colorectal cancer in men and women respectively. The significant cluster patterns were discovered from 2002 to 2007. The common type of spatial clustering was a high-high cluster, that to indicate from North-west to South-east of Fars Province.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis of the geographical distribution of GI.C will provide opportunities for policymakers for applying preventive measures. Furthermore, it could be helpful for researchers for future epidemiological studies for investigation of etiological agents in regions with significant spatial clustering of high incidence of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Shiraz Anesthesiology and Critical Care Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Askarian
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Science, College of Human Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goli
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Shiraz Anesthesiology and Critical Care Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahbobeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oroei
authors.affiliation: Department of Non-Communicable Diseases, Deputy of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Faramarzi
keywords: Gastrointestinal neoplasm; Iran; spatial clustering
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