Manuscript title: Geospatial analysis of Cancer risk and residential proximity to coal mines in Illinois.

Background: Studies have indicated a population-level association between coal mining and cancer incidence and mortality, but few studies specifically examined residential proximity to this exposure using spatial analysis. We utilized a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach to perform spatial and statistical analyses to test two coal mining exposure variables and their associations with cancer incidence and mortality in Illinois--the fourth highest coal producing state in the United States.

Methods: Data included age-adjusted county-level cancer incidence and mortality for five cancers: all malignant, lung, colorectal, breast (female) and prostate.