Study: Latino groups have differing cancer risks

According to a medical study released this month, migrants from at in America to the U.S. face a higher risk of cancer than in their countries of origin.

Researchers at the University of Miami studied cancer registries in Florida with those in nations like Cuba and Puerto Rico and concluded that the increase ranges from 40% to 100%. ``It's related to becoming overweight, a lack of exercise, eating rich food and red and processed meats,'' said the study’s head author- Dr. Paulo Pinheiro- regarding the changes between lifestyles in developing countries to that in the U.S.

More striking, however, is that the study found great differences in cancer rates of different Latino subpopulations. “We always talk about Hispanics as a whole group…But when we separate the different subpopulations, there are significant differences” emphasized Pinheiro. The study’s results seem to prove him right:

The results indicated that these population groups showed different patterns of cancer once they moved to the United States; Mexicans had the lowest rates of cancer overall and Puerto Ricans had the highest rates of cancer. Cubans' risk of cancer most closely resembles that of non-Hispanic whites. Similar to the U.S. non-Hispanic white population, Cubans and Puerto Ricans seemed to acquire higher risk for diet-related cancers relatively quickly.

Furthermore, Cuban males had higher incidence of tobacco-related cancers; Puerto Rican men had high incidence of liver cancer; and Mexican women had a higher incidence of cervical cancer.

Pinheiro added that the UM study coincides with research conducted in the 1980s that found that Puerto Ricans who moved to New York where more susceptible to certain forms of cancer than their counterparts on the island.

Image- The Telegraph
Online Sources- Science Daily, ABC News, Bloomberg, Miami Herald