University of Iowa researchers create tools for cancer tracking in different states
by Brooklyn Draisey, Iowa Capital Dispatch
February 13, 2026
As Iowa officials drill down on their fight to understand and address high cancer rates in the state, a mapping tool developed by University of Iowa researchers is informing their and other states’ work — and the network is set to keep growing.
Where previously only countywide data was available on what types of cancers are prevalent in different areas, Cancer Analytics & Maps for Small Areas, or CAMSA, shows cancer incidence and mortality rates in areas as small as zip codes. It uses statistical modeling based on data from the Iowa Cancer Registry, showing different measures of cancer incidence and risk probability for different age groups and sexes across Iowa.
Biostatistics professor and director of graduate studies Jacob Oleson said he’s been working on this project and its different iterations since 2015. Caglar Koylu, associate professor in the UI School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability, said he brought “expertise on cartography and user interactions” to the team in order to ensure everyone from researchers to members of the public can understand the tool and learn what they need to from it.
“That’s the unique power of this tool,” Koylu said. “It’s not just a map, but it’s a map of a really robust model that can produce these estimates.”
Utilizing data on cancer cases in Iowa gathered by the Iowa Cancer Registry, Oleson said the statistical model developed for CAMSA makes a “realistic estimate” of cancer rates in Zip Code Tabulation Areas — census blocks that represent geographic locations of populated areas and have a high overlap with zip codes, according to the CAMSA glossary of terms.
CAMSA users can filter results based on eight leading cancer types, including cervical, lung, breast, prostate and liver, and look at age-adjusted rates and risk probability. The tool is updated annually as new cancer registry data is released.
Zip Code Tabulation Areas in the 95th percentile for lung cancer in Iowa for the 2016-2020 group include areas of Waterloo, Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Cedar Rapids, Dawson, Graettinger and Sabula, meaning they are well above the state average for number of new lung cancer cases per 100,000 people, adjusted for age.
When he began his work on this project, Oleson said he was interested in cancer rates in “small geographic regions,” as national databases often don’t show data below the county level. In Iowa, where much of the state is rural, he said some counties might not have enough cases to identify a cancer rate, leaving a gap in the data.
Oleson said this has some personal meaning to him, as he is from a rural area of the state. He is also part of the team provided funding by the state to research key drivers of cancer in Iowa,. They went over their interim findings with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and others at a press conference Feb. 5.
Iowa in 2025 had the second-highest age-adjusted rate of newly diagnosed cancers, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry’s annual report, and is one of two U.S. states with a rising rate of new cancers.
While the geographic patterns identified in the report can be found in CAMSA, Oleson said this project “does not base any conclusions or direction” from the tool. However, he said some of the behind-the-scenes operations of CAMSA, such as statistical analysis tools and his knowledge of the cancer data received from the Iowa Cancer Registry, has been helpful in analysis for the cancer drivers work.
An initial version of CAMSA was launched during Oleson’s early work on the project, and the most recent iteration has been available for more than a year. The team in charge of CAMSA has also worked with the New Mexico Tumor Registry to develop a map for the state, which Oleson said will be made public soon, and the Kentucky Cancer Registry, which will use its tool internally.
“They were interested in it from when we were working on the early stages of this, and we have been in contact with other states as well, because there’s a broader interest in this tool from other states, but we don’t yet have anything formal with the others yet,” Oleson said.
When asked whether changes or expansions are planned for the Iowa tool, both Koylu and Oleson said they’re always working to improve it. Koylu said he and his doctoral student, Jinyi Cai, are working to organize feedback, but it has been overall positive to hear about how different users want to utilize CAMSA.
Some people might need to use CAMSA for different reasons than others, Koylu said, from a member of the public trying to become more informed to an official trying to plan cancer prevention measures in their area. Learning about users’ wants and needs and implementing improvements is a “never-ending process,” he said.
Right now, Koylu said the team can only focus on the states where they have partnerships with resident cancer registries, and while one could imagine this tool becoming something all U.S. states utilize, “to scale this up for the entire nation is a huge undertaking.”
Looking back on when he started his work on CAMSA, Oleson said he’s glad the team expanded with more specialists in order to bring to life different tools that can be found on the website.
“I wouldn’t say it’s where I thought it would be, but it is where I hoped we could go,” Oleson said.
Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.
