Abstract IA11: Cancer patterns among US Latino subpopulations defined by country of origin

Abstract

Abstract Latinos are the fastest growing minority ethnic group in the US and are predicted to account for ~25% of the US population by the year 2050. In spite of this, knowledge about cancer determinants and predictors of cancer outcomes in this population are lagging behind other racial/ethnic groups in the US. Importantly, most existing studies consider US Latinos as one group; however, in spite of the shared language and history, there is significant variability within this group in terms of cultural factors, genetic ancestry, and degree of assimilation to the US lifestyle. Lack of consideration of this heterogeneity may mask important cancer patterns within this population. Consideration of country of origin, using cancer registry data, might partially capture some of these indicators of heterogeneity, and may serve as a starting point to identify important differences among US Latinos. For example, there is emerging evidence that cancer incidence for some of the main cancer types differ across Latino subpopulations defined by country of origin. For several cancers, U.S.-born Latinos have higher cancer incidence than foreign-born Latinos, and Puerto Rican and Cuban Latinos seem to have higher incidence rates than Mexican Latinos. Similarly, differences can be observed across Latino subpopulations defined by country of origin in the distribution of age at diagnosis, sex, socioeconomic status, stage, tumor localization, and overall survival. These findings might be explained by the complex relationship between differences in the prevalence of cancer risk factors, both in the US and in the country of origin of foreign-born Latinos, genetic susceptibility, and access and attitudes towards health care. Elucidating these complex interactions will be critical to identify the most relevant cancer determinants and treatment strategies for US Latinos. Citation Format: Mariana C. Stern. Cancer patterns among US Latino subpopulations defined by country of origin. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr IA11.