In a cross-sectional study reported in JAMA Oncology, Pompa et al found that overall cancer-specific mortality among U.S. Hispanic populations decreased between 1999 and 2020; however, mortality from some cancer types increased in the populations over this period.
Study Details
The study used data on cancer death rates among Hispanic persons of all ages living in the United States between January 1999 and December 2020 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database.
Key Findings
According to the database, between 1999 and 2020, 12,644,869 patients died of cancer in the United States; of these, 690,677 (5.5%) were Hispanic individuals. The overall cancer-specific mortality rate among Hispanic individuals decreased by 1.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2%–1.3%) annually. Overall, cancer-specific mortality rates decreased more among Hispanic men (average annual percent change [AAPC] = −1.6%, 95% CI = −1.7% to −1.5%) than among Hispanic women (AAPC = −1.0%, 95% CI = −1.0% to −0.9%).
Cancer-specific mortality rates decreased for most cancer types. Mortality rates for liver cancer (AAPC = 1.0%, 95% CI = 0.6%–1.4%) increased among Hispanic men, and mortality rates for liver (AAPC = 1.0%, 95% CI = 0.8%–1.3%), pancreatic (AAPC = 0.2%, 95% CI = 0.1%–0.4%), and uterine (AAPC = 1.6%, 95% CI = 1.0%–2.3%) cancers increased among Hispanic women. A decrease in overall cancer-specific mortality rates was observed in all age groups except Hispanic men aged 25 to 34 years (AAPC = 0.7%, 95% CI = 0.3%–1.1%).
According to U.S. region, liver cancer mortality rates increased significantly in the West for both Hispanic men (AAPC = 1.6%, 95% CI = 0.9%–2.2%) and women (AAPC = 1.5%, 95% CI = 1.1%–1.9%), as well as in the South for men and in the Northeast for women. Among women, significant increases in uterine cancer death rates were observed in the West and Northeast, increased pancreatic cancer death rates were observed in the Midwest, and increased central nervous system cancer death rates were observed in the Northeast.
The investigators concluded: “In this cross-sectional study, despite overall cancer-specific mortality decreasing over 2 decades among Hispanic individuals, disaggregation of data demonstrated that rates of liver cancer deaths among Hispanic men and women and [pancreatic] and uterine cancer deaths among Hispanic women increased from 1999 to 2020. There were also disparities in cancer-specific mortality rates among age groups and U.S. regions. The findings suggest that sustainable solutions need to be implemented to reverse these trends among Hispanic populations.”
Sophia C. Kamran, MD, of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, is the corresponding author for the JAMA Oncology article.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit jamanetwork.com.
