The Cancer Mapping data consists of counts of newly diagnosed cancer among New York State residents and is in response to legislation regarding "Cancer incidence and environmental facility maps" signed into law in 2010 (Public Health Law §2401-B). The law specifies the publication of maps showing cancer counts for small geographic areas along with certain facilities regulated by the State Department of Environmental Conservation. The official web site is called Environmental Facilities and Cancer Mapping.

The dataset is ONLY for the cancer-related data fields on the Environmental Facilities and Cancer Mapping web site. This dataset includes observed counts for 23 separate anatomical sites at the level of census block group. Block groups are small geographic areas typically averaging 1,000 to 1,500 people. To protect confidentiality, each area contains a minimum of 6 total cancers among males and 6 total cancers among females.

For more information, check out http://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/cancer/registry/about.htm.