The ACC is dedicated to serving the needs of the 12 counties that comprise our catchment area.
- Five counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia)
- Six counties in southern New Jersey (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Mercer, Ocean)
- One county in Delaware (New Castle)
These 12 counties have a population of 7,015,781 and capture the residences of 81.4 percent of the ACC patients seen during the current funding period. One-fifth (21.5 percent) of ACC patients live in Philadelphia County.
The catchment area guides our central effort to ensure that the ACC understands the unique aspects of the cancer burden, facilitates research relevant to catchment area residents, identifies key constituents for engagement, and guides dissemination of evidence-based treatments and policies to reduce the cancer burden.
While the ACC has defined its primary catchment area as the geographic area where more than 80 percent of its cancer patients live — consistent with the mission of the National Cancer Institute — we also serve the needs and address the cancer burden within a broader regional area through Penn Medicine 's network of hospitals and focus on the global health. For example, ACC works with Penn Medicine partner hospitals in Princeton, NJ and Lancaster, PA. Globally, ACC members are engaged in academic training activities and high-impact research that addresses critical questions regarding cancer burdens in Botswana, Rwanda and Haiti. Our mission of reducing the cancer burden has a focus on our catchment area, and we are equally committed to expanding this commitment to regional and global cancer burdens.
Cancer Burden in Our Catchment Area
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the ACC catchment area, with 171.0/100,000 population/year between 2011-2015. Below are details of cancer incidence, mortality and risk factors in the communities we serve.
Increased cancer incidence vs. national averages:
- Entire catchment area
Overall, prostate, lung, melanoma, NHL, pancreas, liver
- Philadelphia County
Overall, prostate, lung, colorectal, liver, pancreas, leukemia, cervical
- Non-Philadelphia catchment area counties
Overall, breast, prostate, melanoma, NHL, pancreas
- Among Black residents
Overall, lung, liver
- Among White residents
Overall, breast, prostate, melanoma, NHL, pancreas
- Among females
Lung
Increased cancer mortality vs. national averages:
- Entire catchment area
Pancreas
- Philadelphia County
Overall, lung, prostate, breast, colorectal, pancreas, liver, cervical
- Among Black residents
Overall, lung, prostate
- Among females
Pancreatic
Risk populations/risk factors in catchment area:
- Black and young Hispanic residents
- Medically underserved population
- Sexual and gender minorities
- People living with HIV
- People living with serious mental illness
- Ashkenazi Jews
- Smoking and e-cigarette use, alcohol use, obesity and environmental exposure