Race a Risk Factor for Cancer Mortality, Study Shows

Numerous studies have documented racial differences in deaths from cancer among non-Hispanic whites and African Americans, but little has been known about survival outcomes for Asian Americans who have been diagnosed with cancer, until now. A new study from Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD, and colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) examined cancer patients in eight different Asian American subgroups and found their cancer-specific mortality (CSM) was substantially lower than that of non-Hispanic white patients. The findings are published in the March 20 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).

"What we have found is that Asian Americans are an incredibly diverse group that cannot be indiscriminately combined together," said Trinh, associate surgeon for the Division of Urology at BWH, faculty at the Center for Surgery and Public Health and lead author of the study. "With Asian Americans, there is important variation in socioeconomic status, cultural beliefs, and length of time since immigrating to the United States that researchers must take into account."

Complete report on ScienceDaily: http://bit.ly/19he8xk