Abstract LB-434: Colorectal, prostate, and skin cancer screening among Hispanic and white non-Hispanic men, 2000-2005

Abstract

Abstract One of the most effective means of reducing cancer-specific mortality is early detection via cancer screening; however, Hispanic men continue to have lower colorectal, prostate and skin cancer screening rates than White non-Hispanic men. To combat this disparity and educate men and women aged 50 and older about the importance of regular colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, the Screen for Life campaign, which included directed intervention materials in Spanish as well as in English, was launched by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1999. We hypothesized that CRC screening rates would increase overtime among Hispanics and non-Hispanics as a result of this campaign and that prostate and skin cancer screening would also increase due to screening recommendations and raised awareness and necessity of cancer screening. The objective of this study was to assess whether CRC, as well as prostate and skin cancer screening rates among Hispanic and White non-Hispanic men changed between 2000 and 2005 using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data. Our results showed that Hispanic men were less likely to comply with cancer screening guidelines for these three common malignancies than White non-Hispanic men. However, significant increases in CRC endoscopic screening were observed in both ethnic groups. It increased 2.1-fold and 2.4-fold for Hispanic and White non-Hispanic men, respectively (P<0.05). In contrast, the use of home fecal occult blood tests remained stable among Hispanics and decreased significantly among White non-Hispanics. PSA screening remained stable, while the use of skin cancer screening tended to increase among both ethnic groups. Our study suggests that a targeted public education program that is culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate may be effective in increasing CRC screening rates. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-434.