Comparing spatial patterns of 11 common cancers in Mainland China

BACKGROUND: A stronger spatial clustering of cancer burden indicates stronger environmental and human behavioral effects. However, which common cancers in China have stronger spatial clustering and knowledge gaps regarding the environmental and human behavioral effects have yet to be investigated. This study aimed to compare the spatial clustering degree and hotspot patterns of 11 common cancers in mainland China and discuss the potential environmental and behavioral risks underlying the patterns. METHODS: Cancer incidence data recorded at 339 registries in 2014 was obtained from the “China Cancer Registry Annual Report 2017”. We calculated the spatial clustering degree of the common cancers using the global Moran’s Index and identified the hotspot patterns using the hotspot analysis. RESULTS: We found that esophagus, stomach and liver cancer have a significantly higher spatial clustering degree ([Formula: see text] ) than others. When by sex, female esophagus, male stomach, male esophagus, male liver and female lung cancer had significantly higher spatial clustering degree ([Formula: see text] ). The spatial clustering degree of male liver was significantly higher than that of female liver cancer ([Formula: see text] ), whereas the spatial clustering degree of female lung was significantly higher than that of male lung cancer ([Formula: see text] ). The high-risk areas of esophagus and stomach cancer were mainly in North China, Huai River Basin, Yangtze River Delta and Shaanxi Province. The hotspots for liver and male liver cancer were mainly in Southeast China and south Hunan. Hotspots of female lung cancer were mainly located in the Pearl River Delta, Shandong, North and Northeast China. The Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta were high-risk areas for multiple cancers. CONCLUSIONS: The top highly clustered cancer types in mainland China included esophagus, stomach and liver cancer and, by sex, female esophagus, male stomach, male esophagus, male liver and female lung cancer. Among them, knowledge of their spatial patterns and environmental and behavioral risk factors is generally limited. Potential factors such as unhealthy diets, water pollution and climate factors have been suggested, and further investigation and validation are urgently needed, particularly for male liver cancer. This study identified the knowledge gap in understanding the spatial pattern of cancer burdens in China and offered insights into targeted cancer monitoring and control. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13926-y.