Cancer and American Indians/Alaska Natives

American Indian/Alaska Native men and women generally have lower cancer rates than the non-Hispanic white population. However, disparities still exist in certain types of cancer.

From 2002-2006, American Indian/Alaska Native men were 60% more likely to have liver & IBD cancer as non-Hispanic White men.
American Indian/Alaska Native men are 1.6 times as likely to have stomach cancer as non-Hispanic White men, and are over twice as likely to die from the same disease.
American Indian/Alaska Native women are 2.5 times more likely to have, and to die from, liver & IBD cancer, as compared to non-Hispanic White women.
American Indian/Alaska Native women are 40% more likely to have kidney/renal pelvis cancer as non-Hispanic White women.

At a glance – New Cases:

**New Cancer Cases per 100,000 – Men (2005)**
Cancer	All Men	American Indian Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	American Indian/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	510.1	368.8	538.0	0.7
Prostate	147.1	69.5	145.3	0.5

**New Cancer Cases per 100,000 – Women (2005)**
Cancer	All Women	American Indian Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	American Indian/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	396.7	348.7	430.1	0.8
Breast	121.5	97.2	133.6	0.7

Source: CDC, 2009. Health United States, 2008. Table 52.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf [PDF | 12.2MB]

At a glance – Top Cancer Sites for American Indians (2002-2006):

**Cancer Incidence Rates per 100,000 – Men**
Cancer	All Men	American Indian Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	American Indian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	541.8	331.0	544.3	0.6
Stomach	11.0	15.5	9.8	1.6
Liver & IBD*	10.2	13.6	8.6	1.6
Kidney & Renal Pelvis	18.6	21.7	19.2	1.1

At a glance – Top Cancer Sites for American Indians (2002-2006):

**Cancer Incidence Rates per 100,000 – Women**
Cancer	All Women	American Indian Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	American Indian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	408.5	302.2	420.5	0.7
Stomach	5.5	7.9	4.0	2.0
Liver & IBD*	3.6	6.6	2.6	2.5
Kidney & Renal Pelvis	9.5	14.1	9.9	1.4

*IBD = Intrahepatic Bile Duct
Source: NCI 2009. Seer Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2006. Tables 1.24 and 1.25; 24.12; 14.12
http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/results_merged/topic_inc_trends.pdf [PDF | 62KB]

At a glance – 5 Year Survival Rate:
Not available at this time.

At a glance – Death Rate:

**Cancer Death Rates per 100,000 – Men (2002-2006)**
Cancer	American Indian Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	American Indian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	183.3	231.8	0.8
Stomach	9.8	4.5	2.2
Kidney & Renal Pelvis	9.0	6.1	1.5
Liver & IBD*	10.3	6.4	1.6

**Cancer Death Rates per 100,000 – Women (2002-2006)**
Cancer	American Indian Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	American Indian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	140.1	161.2	0.9
Stomach	4.6	2.2	2.1
Cervical	3.4	2.1	1.6
Liver & IBD*	6.5	2.8	2.3
Kidney & Renal Pelvis	4.2	2.8	1.5

*IBD = Intrahepatic Bile Duct
Source: NCI 2009. Seer Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2006. Table 1.20.
http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/results_single/sect_01_table.20_2pgs.pdf [PDF | 24KB]

At a Glance – Screening:

Breast Cancer

**Percent of women age 40 and over who had a mammogram within the past 2 years, 2005 (age-adjusted)**
American Indian/Alaska Native Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	American Indian/Alaska Native/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
67.1	68.2	1.0

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Tables 1A_a and 1A_b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

Cervical Cancer

**Percent of women age 18 and over who had a Pap smear within the past 3 years, 2005 (age-adjusted)**
American Indian/Alaska Native Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	American Indian/Alaska Native/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
71.2	79.1	0.9

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Tables 3a and 3b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

Colon Cancer

**Adults age 50 and over who reported they ever had a colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or proctoscopy, or had a fecal occult blood test within the past 2 years, United States, 2005**
American Indian/Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic White	American Indian/Alaska Native/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
38.1	58.5	0.7

Source: 2008 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 1_3_1.2a & 1_3_1.2b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr08/index.html

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Content Last Modified: 11/10/2009 11:59:00 AM