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What is an APC?
Answer:
Annual Percent Change (APC) is one way to characterize trends in cancer rates over time. With this approach, the cancer rates are assumed to change at a constant percentage of the rate of the previous year. For example, if the APC is 1%, and the rate is 50 per 100,000 in 1990, the rate is 50 x 1.01 = 50.5 in 1991 and 50.5 x 1.01 = 51.005 in 1992. Rates that change at a constant percentage every year change linearly on a log scale.