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Report Finds Lower Cancer Rates Among Latinos

Annually, the nation's leading cancer organizations—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries—collaborate to assess the status of cancer in the United States.

The "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2003," finds that from 1999 to 2003, Latinos had lower incidence rates than non-Hispanic whites (NHW) for most cancers, but were less likely than the NHW population to be diagnosed with localized stage disease for cancers of the lung, colon and rectum, prostate, female breast, and cervix. However, Latino children have higher incidence rates of leukemia, retinoblastoma, osteosarcoma, and germ cell tumors than do non-Latino white children.

Several cancer sites with higher incidence rates in Latinos often have infectious origins: human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical cancer; Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in stomach cancer; and Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) in liver cancer.*

Addressing Health Disparities in the Latino Community

		In Screen for Life public service announcements, actor Jimmy Smits explains why screening for colorectal cancer is important.

*Addressing Latino cancer issues requires—

• Research on disseminating effective treatments
• Educational programs to promote healthier lifestyles, and use of screening services
• Greater access to prompt and appropriate care
• Clarification of genetic susceptibilities and genetic-environmental interactions
• Improved cultural competency among all cancer care givers, including physicians

*Public health interventions that may reduce infection-related cancers among U.S. Hispanic populations include—

• Immunization against Hepatitis B and the most common oncogenic strains of HPV
• Screening and counseling for Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
• Screening for cervical cancer

*Source: Howe HL, Wu X, Ries LA, Cokkinides V, Ahmed F, Jemal A, Miller B, Williams M, Ward E, Wingo PA, Ramirez A, Edwards BK. Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975–2003, featuring cancer among U.S. Hispanic/Latino populations. Cancer 2006;107(8):1711–1742.

Information in Spanish
CDC's Cáncer en español Web site offers a variety of fact sheets, brochures, and other materials in Spanish. CDC's Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign offers public service announcements, a poster, brochure, and fact sheet in Spanish.

Free or Low-Cost Cancer Screening
CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program offers free or low-cost mammograms and Pap tests to underserved women in the United States. To find out if you qualify, call your local program.

Selected Partnership Activities

Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF)
CDC funded the APIAHF to support its AAPI Cancer Survivors Capacity Building Project, which will improve cancer prevention, early detection, and survivorship among the AAPI population.

Men Against Breast Cancer (MABC)
CDC funded MABC to support its Partners in Survival Program. Through collaborations with other groups, this program targets minority women and their partners: African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics. By conducting workshops, developing and producing culturally sensitive material, and translating material into Spanish, MABC's Partners in Survival program will improve men's ability to care for and support their partners.

National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH)
Through funding from CDC, NCFH developed the Cultivando la Salud: Breast and Cervical Cancer Program. Its goal is to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among Hispanic migrant and seasonal farmworker women.

National Indian Women's Health Resource Center (NIWHRC)
The NIWHRC provides culturally effective technical assistance to National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program-sponsored tribes, tribal organizations, and states, working directly with them to establish, implement, or enhance plans to reduce the burden of breast and cervical cancer in American Indian and Alaska Native women.

Us TOO International
CDC funded Us TOO International to support its Minority and Underserved Populations Program, a program to minimize mortality rates among African-American men, Spanish-speaking men, and men living in underserved regions of the United States such as Appalachia.