The Importance of Statistical Investigations in the Campaign against Cancer

Abstract

The statistical investigation of cancer is in itself a part of the scientific fight against cancer. But in so far as it can be carried out only by the State it has been assigned to the social fight against cancer. It is indeed the most important contribution which the State can bring to the solution of the problem. It has been said that cancer statistics will never solve the cancer problem. That may be said about any other scientific method of investigation. Cancer presents a problem so complex and so extensive that no single method by itself is sufficient. Cancer statistics are of value only if they are based on data which are reasonably accurate and if they are presented with the necessary statistical corrections. At the present time such data are available from countries the populations of which exceed 200 million persons. Assuming that the average annual mortality from cancer in these countries is one person per 1000 living, there are available every year reasonably accurate statistical data concerning 200,000 people who have died from cancer. These data comprise the age and sex of the patient and the organs affected by the disease. This vast material of facts, collected annually, represents information concerning the incidence of cancer in man which is unique, which cannot be obtained by any other method, and which is essential for an understanding of the disease as it affects man. Cancer is a disease affecting all species of vertebrates and presenting everywhere the same fundamental features. Statistics provide data concerning the incidence of cancer in one species—man—which cannot be equalled for completeness and extent in any other species. In this way statistical data for man have been of material assistance in interpreting observations made on cancer in animals.