Oral and pharyngeal cancer incidence and mortality among Hispanics, 1996-2002: The need for ethnoregional studies in cancer research

Objectives. We investigated whether oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer (OPC) incidence and mortality statistics among Hispanics in New York State differed from those among Hispanics in the United States as a whole. Methods. OPC incidence and mortality statistics for 1996-2002 were obtained from the New York State Cancer Registry and compared with national statistics released by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program for the same period. Results. Among Hispanic men, OPC incidence rates were approximately 75% and 89% higher in New York State and New York City, respectively, than national rates reported by the SEER program. No notable differences were identified among Hispanic women. Incidence rates among New York State Hispanic men were 16% higher than those of their non-Hispanic White counterparts. The difference was twice as high (32%) among Hispanic men in New York City. Mortality rates among both men and women exhibited patterns similar to the incidence patterns. Conclusions. Ethnoregional differences exist in the incidence and mortality rates of OPC in the United States. New York State Hispanic men exhibit much higher incidence and mortality rates than US Hispanics as reported by the SEER program.