Five Cancers Among Asian Americans

July 11, 2007

The full report highlights that "Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the only major US racial/ethnic group for which the annual number of deaths from cancer exceeds that for heart disease" and that, though Asian Americans are at lower risk for cancers of the lung, colon and rectum, breast, and prostate, they have higher rates of cancers related to infectious conditions."

More here: "Among the more striking findings are that Vietnamese men have incidence and death rates from liver cancer that are seven times the rate in non-Hispanic white men, and Korean men and women are five to seven times as likely as whites to develop stomach cancer. Other Asians are also prone to these cancers, but their rates are generally not as high."

The Oversees China Weblog points-to some of the major conclusions of the study:

* “Chinese Americans had among the lowest incidence and death rate from all cancer combined; however, Chinese women had the highest lung cancer death rate (among Asian Americans).”
* '"Chinese Americans in California have high rates for colorectal, liver, and lung cancer compared with other Asian ethnic groups."
* "The high rate of colorectal cancer among Chinese in California contrasts sharply with the low risks in China, and the increase in risk with time since migration implicates behaviors associated with the Western lifestyle."
* “The incidence and mortality rates … for liver cancer among Chinese men in California … are more than twice as high as in Japanese men ….” In Asia, Hepatitis B virus infection is the main cause of liver cancer, while in America, Hepatitis C, alcoholic cirrhosis, and obesity are more common causes of liver cancer."

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