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Incidence of esophageal and gastric cancers among Hispanics, non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks in the United States: subsite and histology differences

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Abstract

Objective

We examined subsite- and histology-specific esophageal and gastric cancer incidence patterns among Hispanics/Latinos and compared them with non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks.

Methods

Data on newly diagnosed esophageal and gastric cancers for 1998–2002 were obtained from 37 population-based central cancer registries, representing 66% of the Hispanic population in the United States. Age-adjusted incidence rates (2000 US) were computed by race/ethnicity, sex, anatomic subsite, and histology. The differences in incidence rates between Hispanics and non-Hispanics were examined using the two-tailed z-statistic.

Results

Squamous cell carcinoma accounted for 50% and 57% of esophageal cancers among Hispanic men and women, respectively, while adenocarcinoma accounted for 43% among Hispanic men and 35% among Hispanic women. The incidence rate of squamous cell carcinoma was 48% higher among Hispanic men (2.94 per 100,000) than non-Hispanic white men (1.99 per 100,000) but about 70% lower among Hispanics than non-Hispanic blacks, for both men and women. In contrast, the incidence rates of esophageal adenocarcinoma were lower among Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites (58% lower for men and 33% for women) but higher than non-Hispanic blacks (70% higher for men and 64% for women). Cardia adenocarcinoma accounted for 10–15% of gastric cancers among Hispanics, and the incidence rate among Hispanic men (2.42 per 100,000) was 33% lower than the rate of non-Hispanic white men (3.62 per 100,000) but 37% higher than that of non-Hispanic black men. The rate among Hispanic women (0.86 per 100,000), however, was 20% higher than that of non-Hispanic white women (0.72 per 100,000) and 51% higher than for non-Hispanic black women. Gastric non-cardia cancer accounted for approximately 50% of gastric cancers among Hispanics (8.32 per 100,000 for men and 4.90 per 100,000 for women), and the rates were almost two times higher than for non-Hispanic whites (2.95 per 100,000 for men and 1.72 per 100,000 for women) but about the same as the non-Hispanic blacks.

Conclusion

Subsite- and histology-specific incidence rates of esophageal and gastric cancers among Hispanics/Latinos differ from non-Hispanics. The incidence rates of gastric non-cardia cancer are almost two times higher among Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites, both men and women. The rates of gastric cardia cancer are lower among Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites for men but higher for women. The rates of esophageal and gastric cardia adenocarcinomas are higher among Hispanics than non-Hispanic blacks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, School of Public Health, 2021 Lakeshore Dr. Suite 210, New Orleans, LA, 70122, USA

    Xiaocheng Wu, Vivien W. Chen, Patricia A. Andrews & Bernardo Ruiz

  2. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    Pelayo Correa

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  1. Xiaocheng Wu
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  2. Vivien W. Chen
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  5. Pelayo Correa
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Correspondence to Xiaocheng Wu.

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Wu, X., Chen, V.W., Andrews, P.A. et al. Incidence of esophageal and gastric cancers among Hispanics, non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks in the United States: subsite and histology differences. Cancer Causes Control 18, 585–593 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-007-9000-1

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