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cancer cluster

American

[kan-ser kluhs-ter] / ˈkæn sər ˌklʌs tər /

noun

the occurrence of a higher than expected number of cancer cases in a small, defined geographical area or population.

Etymology

Origin of cancer cluster

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Texas health officials in 2019 identified a cancer cluster in Houston’s historically Black Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens neighborhoods.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 13, 2023

In the late 1990s, a cancer cluster sprouted in Suva Elementary and Intermediate Schools in Bell Gardens that led to a legal settlement against a nearby chromer.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2023

Only one of the three remaining cases with a plausible link to a known carcinogen turned out to be a verifiable cancer cluster.

From Slate • Oct. 24, 2013

It would be really hard to hide a cancer cluster if there was one.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2012

It's the kind of disproportionate grouping that epidemiologists call a "cancer cluster."

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023