Cancer and Asians/Pacific Islanders

Asian Americans generally have lower cancer rates than the non-Hispanic white population. However, disparities still exist in certain types of cancer.

Asian/Pacific Islander men are 40% less likely to have prostate cancer as white men, but they are twice as likely to have stomach cancer.
Although Asian/Pacific Islander women are 30% less likely to have breast cancer as white women, they are 2.8 times as likely to have stomach cancer.
Both Asian/Pacific Islander men and women have more than twice the incidence of liver & IBD cancer as the non-Hispanic white population.
Asian/Pacific Islander men are twice as likely to die from stomach cancer as compared to the non-Hispanic white population, and Asian/Pacific Islander women are 2.6 times as likely to die from the same disease.
Cancer data is limited for this population.

At a glance – New Cases:

**New Cancer Cases per 100,000 – Men (2005)**
Cancer	All Men	Asian/Pacific Islander Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	Asian/Pacific Islander/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	510.1	350.2	538.0	0.7
Prostate	147.1	89.7	145.3	0.6
Stomach	11.0	19.3	8.5	2.3

**New Cancer Cases per 100,000 – Women (2005)**
Cancer	All Women	Asian/Pacific Islander Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Asian/Pacific Islander/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	396.7	292.7	430.1	0.7
Breast	121.5	91.2	133.6	0.7
Cervical	7.7	7.7	6.2	1.0
Stomach	5.5	9.9	3.6	2.8

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 Asian/Pacific Islander
(2002-2006):

Cancer Incidence Rates per 100,000 – Men

Cancer

All Men

Asian/Pacific
Islander
Men

Non-HispanicWhite Men

Asian/Pacific Islander/Non-Hispanic White Ratio

All Sites

541.8

349.1

544.3

0.6

Stomach

11.0

18.0

9.8

1.8

Liver & IBD*

10.2

21.4

8.6

2.5

**Cancer Incidence Rates per 100,000 – Women**
Cancer	All Women	Asian/Pacific Islander Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Asian/Pacific Islander/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	408.5	287.5	420.5	0.7
Stomach	5.5	10.0	4.0	2.5
Liver & IBD*	3.6	8.3	2.6	3.2
Thyroid	14.2	14.2	15.0	1.0

*IBD = Intrahepatic Bile Duct
Source: NCI 2009. Seer Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2006. Tables 1.24 and 1.25; 14.12; 24.12
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	Asian/Pacific Islander Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	Asian/Pacific Islander/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	135.4	231.8	0.6
Stomach	9.6	4.5	2.1
Liver & IBD*	15.0	6.4	2.4

**Cancer Death Rates per 100,000 – Women (2002-2006)**
Cancer	Asian/Pacific Islander Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Asian/Pacific Islander/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	95.1	161.2	0.6
Stomach	5.8	2.2	2.6
Cervical	2.2	2.1	1.0
Liver & IBD*	6.6	2.8	2.4

*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)**
Asian American Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Asian American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
54.0	68.2	0.8

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

Cervcal Cancer

**Percent of women age 18 and over who had a Pap smear within the past 3 years, 2005 (age-adjusted)**
Asian American Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Asian American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
63.9	79.1	0.8

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**
Asian American	Non-Hispanic White	Asian American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
42.4	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 12:10:00 PM