High cancer mortality for US-born Latinos: evidence from California and Texas

BMC Cancer

Research Article

Scarlett Lin Gomez¹  Amelie G. Ramirez²  Rafael Marcos-Gragera³  Aina Roca-Barcelo³  Karen E. Callahan⁴  Taylor R. Cobb⁴  Paulo S. Pinheiro⁴ 

[1] Cancer Prevention Institute of California, 2201 Walnut Ave., Suite 300, 94538, Fremont, CA, USA;Department of Epidemiology and Biostatics, Institute for Health Promotion Research, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 411 John Smith, Suite 1000, 78229, San Antonio, TX, USA;Epidemiology Unit and Girona Cancer Registry, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Biomedical Research Institute (IdiBGi), Carrer del Sol 15, 17004, Girona, Spain;School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, 89154, Las Vegas, NV, USA;

关键词: Cancer;    Hispanics;    Latinos;    Mortality;    Nativity;    Birthplace;    Mexican;    Texas;    California;    Immigrants;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12885-017-3469-0

 received in 2016-11-16, accepted in 2017-07-02,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundLatinos born in the US, 36 million, comprise 65% of all US Latinos. Yet their cancer experience is nearly always analyzed together with their foreign-born counterparts, 19 million, who constitute a steady influx of truly lower-risk populations from abroad. To highlight specific cancer vulnerabilities for US-born Latinos, we compare their cancer mortality to the majority non-Latino white (NLW) population, foreign-born Latinos, and non-Latino blacks.MethodsWe analyzed 465,751 cancer deaths from 2008 to 2012 occurring among residents of California and Texas, the two most populous states, accounting for 47% of US Latinos. This cross-sectional analysis, based on granular data obtained from death certificates on cause of death, age, race, ethnicity and birthplace, makes use of normal standardization techniques and negative binomial regression models.ResultsWhile Latinos overall have lower all-cancers-combined mortality rates than NLWs, these numbers were largely driven by low rates among the foreign born while mortality rates for US-born Latinos approach those of NLWs. Among Texas males, rates were 210 per 100,000 for NLWs and 166 for Latinos combined, but 201 per 100,000 for US-born Latinos and 125 for foreign-born Latinos. Compared to NLWs, US-born Latino males in California had mortality rate ratios of 2.83 (95% CI: 2.52–3.18) for liver cancer, 1.44 (95% CI: 1.30–1.61) for kidney cancer, and 1.25 (95% CI: 1.17–1.34) for colorectal cancer (CRC). Texas results showed a similar site-specific pattern.ConclusionsSpecific cancer patterns for US-born Latinos, who have relatively high cancer mortality, similar overall to NLWs, are masked by aggregation of all Latinos, US-born and foreign-born. While NLWs had high mortality for lung cancer, US-born Latinos had high mortality for liver, kidney and male colorectal cancers. HCV testing and reinforcement of the need for CRC screening should be a priority in this specific and understudied population. The unprecedented proximity of overall rates between NLWs and US-born Latino populations runs counter to the prevailing narrative of Latinos having significantly lower cancer risk and mortality. Birthplace data are critical in detecting meaningful differences among Latinos; these findings merit not only clinical but also public health attention.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017