Research published in Cancer shows that grouping Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cancer data together masks significant variation in cancer risk among subgroups, with rates ranging from 218 to 475 per 100,000 people. Disaggregated data collection is essential for developing targeted, effective cancer prevention and control strategies tailored to specific ethnic groups rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.
- Cancer incidence for Asian American and NHPI people combined is lower than other racial-ethnic groups, but this masks significant variation within subgroups
- From 2018-2022, cancer rates ranged from 218.3 per 100,000 Kampuchean people to 474.5 per 100,000 Native Hawaiian people
- Native Hawaiian people have 1.5 times higher cancer incidence than the aggregated Asian American and NHPI population, driven by breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers
- Asian American groups have the highest rates of infection-related cancers, including liver cancer in Vietnamese populations (22.2 per 100,000) and stomach cancer in Korean populations (17.8 per 100,000)
Cancer data for Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) people are usually lumped in together, but it may be time to disaggregate this data, according to research published August 27 in Cancer.
A team led by Nikita Sandeep Wagle PhD, MBBS, and colleagues from the American Cancer Society (ACS) found wide variation in cancer risk within the Asian American and NHPI population, including for breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer, among others.
The researchers noted that this variation “highlights the critical need for disaggregated data to effectively target cancer prevention and control interventions.”
Cancer incidence for all cancer sites combined is lower among the aggregated Asian American and NHPI population than among any other racial-ethnic group in the U.S. But this may mask variation among subgroups within this population.
Prior research suggests that overall cancer incidence rates in Samoan men were more than twice those in Asian Indian/Pakistani men.
Wagle and co-authors studied cancer incidence trends between 2000 and 2022. They also investigated contemporary cancer incidence rates (2018 to 2022), stage at diagnosis (2018 to 2022), and survival (2015 to 2021), for disaggregated Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander people in the U.S. The team used population-based cancer registry data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program for Asian American and NHPI ethnic groups.
From 2018 to 2022, the overall cancer incidence ranged from 218.3 per 100,000 Kampuchean people to 474.5 per 100,000 Native Hawaiian people. The researchers noted the latter rate was 1.5 times higher than the rate for the aggregated Asian American and NHPI population (307.3 per 100,000).
The team also reported Native Hawaiian people’s high incidence is “largely driven” by the highest rates of female breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers. And Asian American groups had the highest rate of infection-related cancers.
“For example, liver and stomach cancer incidence is highest among Vietnamese [22.2 per 100,000] and Korean people [17.8 per 100,000], respectively, both of which were nearly twice that in Native Hawaiian people [12.9 and 9.6 per 100,000, respectively],” the researchers wrote.
The study authors suggested that sustained investment in population-specific data collection is needed to address the cancer burden in these populations. They also called for a better understanding of the sociocultural factors that shape healthcare use.
“Successful cancer prevention and control strategies must be tailored to specific ethnic groups rather than a one-size-fits-all approach,” the authors wrote.
Read the full study here.
