Living in U.S. May Raise Hispanics' Cancer Risk

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These differences should be taken into account when developing cancer prevention programs for Hispanic groups in the United States, Pinheiro said.

Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, applauded the report.

"This study is significant in that it confirms some trends we've been seeing in the last few years, mainly that different U.S. Hispanic population groups -- Cubans, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans -- have higher incidence rates of certain cancers than they do in their homelands," Ramirez said. "They also tend to have worse cancer outcomes due to less access to health care and late diagnosis."

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Calling this a good start, Ramirez said researchers should continue studying the diverse Hispanic population, especially since projections indicate that about one in every three people in the United States will be Hispanic by 2050, she said. "Physicians and researchers still know very little about the different Latino population groups," Ramirez said.

"We need to better understand these different groups and what predisposes them to certain types of cancer, so that health-care workers can improve their health outcomes," Ramirez said. "In turn, we need to continue to learn more about why some different Latino groups have lower incidence rates, and what beneficial information can be learned from those groups and applied to the general population."

Cancer experts like Vilma Cokkinides agree that unhealthy lifestyle changes increase the cancer risk for Hispanic immigrants. "Immigrants who come and stay longer in the United States start adopting lifestyles that can lead to greater cancer incidents," said Cokkinides, strategic director of risk factor surveillance at the American Cancer Society. "Smoking, diet, lack of physical activity and exposure to certain chemicals tend to lead to a higher risk of cancer."

On the positive side, Cokkinides thinks that the health-care system in the United States is better able to detect cancers. But access to care could be a problem for some groups, she added.

More information

For more on racial disparites and cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

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