VITAL SIGNS | PATTERNS; Cancer Risk May Be Higher for Immigrants
By OLUWANIFEMI MABAYOJE
Published: August 11, 2009
Hispanics who move to the United States are 40 percent more likely to develop certain cancers than those who remain in their native countries, according to a study from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine that was conducted in Florida, a state with a diverse Hispanic population.
Researchers speculate that one reason for the possible increase in cancer risk is that immigrants quickly adopt new, less healthy dietary and lifestyle habits, like increased alcohol consumption, after moving to the United States.
It is also possible that aggressive diagnostic measures in the United States result in greater cancer detection, compared with other countries.
The study analyzed data from the 301,944 cancer cases that were reported to the Florida Cancer Data system from 1999 to 2001. The work was published this month in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
Despite the observed increase in cancer rates, first-generation Hispanic-Americans living in Florida still have lower overall cancer rates than whites or blacks in the state.
And for two types of cancer -- stomach cancer and, in women, liver cancer -- rates decreased.
Stomach cancer, the researchers noted, is related to methods of fresh food preservation, salting and vitamin C consumption. OLUWANIFEMI MABAYOJE