Colon Cancer Incidence Among Latinos Depends on Place of Birth; What Hispanics Need to Know About This Disease

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Researchers from the University of Southern California looked at how colon cancer treatment in Latinos can be improved by looking at different risk factors including their location or place of birth.

After surveying more than 35,000 Hispanics who have been diagnosed with the disease in California from 1995 to 2011, they looked at their place of origin including Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central America, Cuba, or South America.

"Hispanics are a very heterogeneous population, which is not really recognized in most cancer studies," said lead author Mariana Stern from University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, in a press release. "Their risk factors might be different; their clinical characteristics could be different. We have to zoom into these observations and understand these disparities because they may affect how patients are educated about the disease and how they are treated by doctors."

In the study published in Cancer Causes & Control, the researchers found that Cubans had the highest death rates at 63 percent and then Puerto Ricans at 58 percent. Mexicans had the lowest colon cancer risk than all other Hispanics in California. However, Latinos from Central and South America and Mexico had a high chance of being diagnosed with the disease before turning 50, according to Health Day.

According to senior author Lihua Liu of Keck Medicine of USC, the purpose of collecting data among Latinos will help future research find out the best approach of treatment as they have in Asian subgroups.

"Nowadays, most of the information we have on the molecular characteristics of colorectal cancer comes from the white population," said Stern. "There is little information specific to Latinos. Plus, they are typically clumped as a group."

Liu adds that genetics and adapting to the US lifestyle could have something to do with the incidence of colorectal cancer in Hispanics.

"This has been reported for breast cancer, too. The heterogeneity of Latino populations presents a unique opportunity to disentangle the complex role of socio-demographics, culture, lifestyle, and genetics as potential determinants of colorectal cancer risk among Latinos and other populations," Liu said.

The website cites that colon cancer is the second leading cause of death among Latinos, according to the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).

Additionally, according to Hispanic Lifestyle, Latinos have are less likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer in the early stages which also coincides with the statistic that they have lower survival rates compared to other races. The website adds that this may be due to low screening and access to better care.

However, the disease is largely preventable and a colonoscopy screening can be done to find out any anomalies in the colorectal tract before it turns into cancer. Dr. Marta Davila of ASGE recommends all Hispanics at least 50 years old to get screening.