Risk of Cancer Death Among White, Black, and Hispanic Populations in South Florida

Risk of Cancer Death Among White, Black, and Hispanic Populations in South Florida

ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 16 — June 27, 2019

Paulo S. Pinheiro, MD, PhD1; Karen E. Callahan, MPH2; Tulay Koru-Sengul, PhD1; Justine Ransdell, BSc3; Layla Bouzoubaa, MSPH1; Clyde P. Brown, DrPH4; Erin Kobetz, PhD1 (View author affiliations)

Suggested citation for this article: Pinheiro PS, Callahan KE, Koru-Sengul T, Ransdell J, Bouzoubaa L, Brown CP, et al. Risk of Cancer Death Among White, Black, and Hispanic Populations in South Florida. Prev Chronic Dis 2019;16:180529. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd16.180529external icon.

PEER REVIEWED

On This Page

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgments
• Author Information
• References
• Tables

Summary

What is already known on this topic?

Compared with white Americans, cancer mortality rates are higher among black Americans and lower among Hispanic Americans.

What is added by this report?

White and black residents of South Florida have lower cancer mortality rates than their national counterparts, and the advantage for black South Floridians results from the large number of Afro-Caribbean residents, who have low risk for cancer mortality. Hispanics in South Florida, most of whom are Cuban, have higher mortality rates for most cancers than their national counterparts.

What are the implications for public health practice?

Effective cancer prevention and control efforts should be specific to populations to account for diversity.

Abstract

Background

The cancer burden in South Florida, with a population of more than 6 million with a heavily Hispanic and large Afro-Caribbean population, has not been quantified.

Methods

We analyzed 2012–2016 cancer mortality data from South Florida for white, Hispanic, and black populations with disaggregation for Cuban, Puerto Rican, South American, African American, and Afro-Caribbean groups. We calculated cancer site-specific and all-sites combined age-adjusted mortality rates, and we used negative binomial regression to determine mortality rate ratios to compare South Florida’s cancer mortality rates with those of the rest of the nation.

Results

We analyzed 53,837 cancer deaths. Per 100,000 population, cancer mortality rates in South Florida were similar among white (173 per 100,000) and black (176 per 100,000) men and among white and black women (133 for both), and they were lowest among Hispanic men (151 per 100,000) and women (93 per 100,000). However, compared with their counterparts nationally, Hispanic residents in South Florida had higher cancer mortality rates, largely driven by Cuban residents, and mortality rates among white and black residents, especially male residents, were substantially lower. Liver cancer rates were high among white and Puerto Rican “baby boomers”; lung cancer mortality was low among all groups except Cuban men; cervical cancer was high among white, black, and Puerto Rican women.

Conclusion

Cancer patterns are not monochromatic in all US regions; South Florida is distinctive. Meeting the needs of an aging diverse population presents challenges for all major metropolitan areas. Expanding surveillance, increasing minority participation in clinical trials, and investing in culturally specific community-based health promotion must continue.