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.