Abstract
Few studies have examined how cancer incidence varies by the country of origin among US Hispanic/Latino adults. In this study, we describe the incidence rates (IR) of cancer overall and for screen-detectable, tobacco-related, and obesity-related cancers among 16,415 participants in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, an ongoing population-based cohort study of Hispanic/Latino adults from diverse backgrounds.
Cohort participant records were linked to the state cancer registries in New York, Florida, California, and Illinois to ascertain cancer incidence from baseline (2008–2011) through 2021. We estimated weighted age-adjusted IRs and age- and sex-adjusted HRs.
Over a mean follow-up of 10.7 (SD = 2.0) years, 715 incident invasive cancers were diagnosed including 118 female breast, 102 prostate, and 79 bronchus and lung cancers. The IR of all cancers combined was 26.2 [95% confidence interval (CI), 22.6–30.2] per 10,000 (10K) person-years (py). The IRs were lowest among persons of Mexican descent [IR, 19.0 (95% CI, 15.0–24.1) per 10K py] and highest for those of Puerto Rican [IR, 36.6 (95% CI, 28.4–47.0) per 10K py] descent. Compared with those of Mexican descent, those of Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican descent had higher hazards of cancer incidence; the incidence of obesity-related (HR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.43–3.95) and tobacco-related (HR, 3.00; 95% CI, 1.58–5.71) cancers was also the highest among Puerto Ricans.
Cancer IRs varied by Hispanic/Latino heritage and were masked when Hispanics/Latinos were aggregated into a single group.
Understanding disparities in cancer risk by Hispanic/Latino heritage may help tailor cancer prevention and control strategies.