Cancer incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta

Methods • The number of observed cancer cases in the community was compared with the number of expected cases over a 12-year study period (1995-2006) • Observed cases were determined through the Alberta Cancer Registry and cancer case reports from the community physicians. [...] The increased number of cases of biliary tract cancers, cancers in the blood and lymphatic system and cancers of unknown primary seen in the most recent six years (2001-2006) compared to the years 1995-2000 of the investigation warrant closer monitoring of cancer occurrences in Fort Chipewyan in the coming years. [...] This report describes the investigation that the Alberta Cancer Board has carried out to verify the number of cholangiocarcinoma cases in Fort Chipewyan and to determine whether the observed number of cancer cases in Fort Chipewyan is higher than expected, accounting for the size as well as the composition of the community population by age, sex and First Nation status. [...] As part of this overall health assessment, the Alberta Cancer Board conducted a cancer rate analysis for the community based on data routinely collected in the Alberta Cancer Registry to evaluate whether the number of the cancer cases found in Fort Chipewyan was higher than expected. [...] The analysis did not find a statistically significant increase (that is, a greater increase than might have occurred by chance) of the cancer incidence rate in Fort Chipewyan when compared to the rates in the rest of the Northern Lights Health Region and the rest of the province.