Disaggregating Hispanic American Cancer Mortality Burden by Detailed Ethnicity

Citation

Zamora, Steven M.; Pinheiro, Paulo S.; Gomez, Scarlett L.; Hastings, Katherine G.; Palaniappan, Latha P.; Hu, Jiaqi; & Thompson, Caroline A. (2019). Disaggregating Hispanic American Cancer Mortality Burden by Detailed Ethnicity. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 28(8), 1353-1363. PMCID: PMC6771432

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hispanics are the largest minority population in the United States (18%). They represent a heterogeneous and growing population. Cancer is the leading cause of death among Hispanics, yet few studies have described cancer mortality burden by specific Hispanic group nationwide.
METHODS: Cancer-related deaths from U.S. death certificates for the years 2003-2012 were analyzed for decedents identifying as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central or South American. We calculated descriptive statistics, including potential years of lives lost (PYLL), age-adjusted rates, standardized mortality ratios, and fitted JoinPoint regression models, to evaluate annual trends by Hispanic group, using non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) as the reference population.
RESULTS: We identified 287,218 cancer-related deaths among Hispanics and 4,570,559 among NHWs. Mortality trends were heterogeneous across Hispanic groups. Female NHWs and male Puerto Ricans had the greatest rates of adjusted PYLL per 1,000 (NHWs, 19.6; Puerto Ricans, 16.5). Liver cancer was ranked among the top 5 cancer-related deaths for every Hispanic group, but not for NHWs. Stomach cancer mortality was twice as high for most Hispanic groups when compared with NHWs and especially high for Mexicans [male standardized mortality ratio (SMR), 2.07; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.01-2.13; female SMR, 2.62; 95% CI, 2.53-2.71].
CONCLUSIONS: We observed marked heterogeneity in cancer mortality across Hispanic groups. Several cancers affect Hispanics disproportionately compared with NHWs. Screening programs in Hispanics should be considered for stomach and liver cancer.
IMPACT: Disaggregated analysis of Hispanics is needed to fully understand cancer burden among the diverse Hispanic population and is critical for cancer prevention and control efforts.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-0872

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2019

Journal Title

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

Author(s)

Zamora, Steven M.
Pinheiro, Paulo S.
Gomez, Scarlett L.
Hastings, Katherine G.
Palaniappan, Latha P.
Hu, Jiaqi
Thompson, Caroline A.

Article Type

Regular

PMCID

PMC6771432

Continent/Country

United States

State

Nonspecific

Race/Ethnicity

Hispanic/Latinx
Mexican
Puerto Rican
Cuban
Central American
South American
White

ORCiD

Thompson, C. - 0000-0001-9990-9756