The study reviewed here found that Hispanics living in the United States are more likely to develop any type of cancer compared to Hispanics living in their native countries.
Hispanics from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico who lived in Florida were 40% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer compared to Hispanics living in the countries in which they were born. Other research has found a similar pattern of higher cancer risk in other ethnic groups living in the United States; Asians, for example. The study reviewed here didn't focus specifically on breast cancer, but other studies have found a similar pattern with breast cancer risk.
Your genetic makeup plays a major role in your risk of developing cancer, including breast cancer. Still, much evidence shows that diet, lifestyle choices, and environmental factors also greatly influence a person's risk of being diagnosed with cancer. When people from one country move to another country, they usually adopt the diet and lifestyle of their new home over time. Environmental factors also may be different in the new country -- pollution levels or hygiene practices, for example. Since genetics don't change, any difference in cancer risk between people who move away from their native country and people who stay in their native country are likely because of changes in diet, lifestyle, and the environment.
While this study didn't look at the specific diet, lifestyle, and environmental factors that likely caused the higher cancer rates of Hispanics living in the United States, it's likely that the following factors are contributing to the higher risk:
The study reviewed here found that Hispanics living in the United States were less likely than non-Hispanic whites to develop cancer, particularly breast and lung cancer. This difference is largely the result of genetic differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites.
The study also found that cancer rates varied depending on a person's birth country. Hispanics from Mexico were the least likely to develop cancer. Hispanics from Puerto Rico were the most likely to develop cancer. These differences are mostly due to genetic differences. Because there is great genetic diversity within the entire Hispanic population, the researchers recommended future studies consider the birth country of individual Hispanics.
While none of us can control our genetics, everyone can make diet, lifestyle, and environmental changes that can keep cancer risk, including breast cancer risk, as low as it can be. Visit the Breastcancer.org Lower Your Risk section to learn more.
Hispanics who live in the U.S. have higher rates of cancer than those who live in their countries of origin, researchers have found.
The overall cancer incidence among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans in Florida was 40% higher than it was for those who stayed in those nations, according to Paulo S. Pinheiro, MD, PhD, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues.
But those three groups also showed very different cancer incidence profiles. Mexicans had the lowest cancer rates overall, while Puerto Ricans had the highest, Pinheiro said. Cubans, who closely trailed Puerto Ricans, had a risk profile very similar to that of non-Hispanic whites.
The researchers published their findings online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention.
"What this study shows is that Hispanic subpopulations are different," Dr. Pinheiro said. "If there is going to be a population measure to target them in terms of cancer control and prevention, those measures should be directed toward the specificities of the subpopulations."
Studies typically classify Hispanics as a single ethnic group, but some researchers say that hides the differences between subroups such as Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans. Also, Hispanic is a Census Bureau designation that can include any race.
Since there are no reports on cancer incidence rates for Hispanic subpopulations in the U.S., the researchers looked at data from the Florida Cancer Registry (1999-2001) and compared that with U.S. Census data.
Florida was home to 2.7 million Hispanics in 2000 and has consistently been a melting pot of Hispanic cultures, the researchers said.
A total of 301,944 cancer cases occurred among Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Central and South Americans there.
The researchers found that Hispanics have a lower incidence of cancer than non-Hispanic whites in the U.S.
The cancer rate for Hispanics in Florida was lower than for non-Hispanic whites (537 versus 601 per 100,000 person-years in men, 376 versus 460 in women).
The lower incidence is likely attributable to lower rates of breast and lung cancers, the researchers said. However, Hispanics tend to have a higher incidence of cancers associated with infections and lower socioeconomic status, including cervical, liver, and stomach cancers.
Although cancer rates were lower for Hispanics than for non-Hispanic whites here, those who migrated to the U.S. had a higher incidence of cancer than those living back at home.
For example, colorectal cancer risk among Cubans and Mexicans in Florida was more than double the risk of their counterparts in Cuba and Mexico, the researchers said.
For lung cancer, Mexican and Puerto Rican rates in Florida were four times as high in women and twice as high in men as the rates in their countries of origin.
Stomach cancer in both sexes, however, and liver cancer in females was higher in home countries for all subpopulations.
One reason may be increased screening compared with that of the home country, while another has to do with lifestyle, Pinheiro said.
"Genetically, the populations [at home and in the U.S.] are identical, which means there have to be changes in lifestyle or environment that make them prone to cancer," he said.
He noted that immigrants tend to gradually acquire the disease profile of the host population.
Each Hispanic subgroup also had different patterns of cancer once it moved to the U.S., the researchers found.
Mexicans had the lowest rates of cancer overall, with "remarkably" low rates of prostate, breast, endometrial, and colorectal cancers, the report noted. However, rates of cancers common among minorities (MedPage Today) -- including stomach, cervical, and liver -- were higher for Mexicans in Florida than they were in non-Hispanic whites.
Puerto Ricans had the highest overall cancer rates, which tended to be close to those of non-Hispanic whites, except for lower rates of lung cancer and melanoma in both sexes and female breast cancer. Like Mexicans, Puerto Ricans had high rates of cervical, stomach, and liver cancers.
Cuban cancer incidence most closely resembles that of non-Hispanic whites, the researchers said. Cuban men were most afflicted by cancers associated with tobacco. But unlike other groups of Hispanics, cervical and stomach cancer rates were low, similar to those of non-Hispanic whites.
Also, Cuban women had the highest rates of colorectal cancer among all females, regardless of race or ethnicity, the researchers said.
The conclusion: "When we treat Hispanics as a homogeneous group, we're actually hiding the differences between them," Pinheiro said.
Otis Brawley, MD, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said the study resembles those "from the late 1960s that looked at immigrants from China and Japan to the U.S. They raise risk of cancer by immigrating and raise rates for second-generation Americans even more so."
Agreeing with Pinheiro's suggestions, Brawley said dietary changes are a major contributor to increased cancer incidence, particularly increased dietary fat and obesity. Better screening here is a less important contributing factor, he added.
The study may have been limited by the possibility of misclassification of ethnicity in registry records or death certificates.
Pinheiro said the conclusions call for further research into the characteristics of these Hispanic subpopulations.
"What is it that happens when they get here?" he asked. "Do they start going to many fast-food restaurants? Do they start smoking more? Do they start drinking more?"
The study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.
This article was developed in collaboration with ABC News.
Primary source: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention Source reference: Pinheiro PS, et al "Cancer incidence in first-generation U.S. Hispanics: Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and New Latinos" Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009; 18(8): 2162-69.
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