1. Week 5 Assignment Instructions
HCA 610
Introduction to BioStatistics
Keisha E. Moore
October 10, 2013

2. Open your browser and
Go to
FASTSTATS
This is the page you need to be on to begin.

3. Check the Boxes
• In the Data Type box: Select SEER Survival
• In the Statistic Type box: Select Relative Survival by Survival Time
• In the Year Range box: Select 1992-2009 (SEER 13)
• In the Race/Ethnicity box: Select All Races (Includes Hispanics)
• In the Sex box: Select Both Sexes
• In the Age Range box: Select All Ages
• In the Output box: I chose to select Table, but Instructor Cummings
checked Graph.
• Note: (I think working with the table is easier because it provides
the exact percentages)

4. Now Select your choice of ONE (1) Cancer Site from the Fast
Stats Page (see below)

5. Click the GET DATA button
It will generate a TABLE if you choose Table as I did, a GRAPH if
you choose Graph. (See Example Below)

6. Now click the Download Data link to at the upper right
hand side above the Table.

7. The previous step will allow you to open and save this file as an Excel file
Click OK, this will open the file and you can save it later.

8. Example of your Excel file opened by doing previous step:

9. The next step is to Narrow your choices:
• Go back to the top of the page:
• Change your Race/Ethnicity box to: White (Includes Hispanics)
• Change your Sex box to: Male
• Change your Age Range box to : Your choice (I did each age group
starting with <20, 20-49, 50-64, 65-74, and 75+)

10. Now click: GET DATA

11. Then repeat the process of saving and Downloading the Data
and opening the file in Excel

12. Example of your narrowed results

13. As stated in the assignment directions: Select a particular type of cancer (by
cancer site) as well as gender, age, and race/ethnicity.
You will compare these variables for your cancer profile.
The type of cancer will remain constant.
Therefore you will need to go back to the top of the page and change your
Race/Ethnicity, Sex, and Age boxes
I would suggest doing blacks and whites, males and females, and at least two (2)
age groups for comparison purposes.

14. Then save the data into your main Excel file after you have retrieved the data
by clicking the GET DATA button and then DOWNLOADED the data and
OPENED it in a new Excel file.

15. Once you have all of your data saved into one MAIN Excel file it
should look similar to this:

16. Now you can compare your data and create a Power Point Presentation or
write a paper to:
1. Describe your data and give a brief synopsis of the type of cancer you
selected.
2. Give the current survival rates for your selected cancer.
3. Does the survival rate for your selected cancer differ by race/ethnicity,
gender, and age? If so, what are those differences?
4. Are there procedures available that can help improve a person’s chance of
survival for the cancer you selected?
5. List at least one risk factor that has been found to be associated with this
cancer.
Note: I am still working on figuring out the prevalence of my selected cancer
type across the United States. My choice of Cancer Type does not have much
research on prevalence yet.

17. Here is a screen shot of the results I got when I clicked GET DATA:
As you can see it does not include all age groups!!!

18. Therefore I am having trouble finding much information for this part of the assignment.
The National Cancer Institutes’ State Cancer Profiles
interactive tool to determine the prevalence does not offer this information for my selected
choice of Cancer Type.
I am going to use the Fast Stats prevalence option and do additional research elsewhere.
Below is a screen shot of what I am using on Fast Stats so you can see how to check the
boxes if you need to use this site for your prevalence rates as well.
Notice: I have selected
LIMITED DURATION
PREVALENCE for Statistic
Type and included all
races,
both sexes, and
all ages!