CANCER AMONG HISPANIC MALES IN SOUTH FLORIDA - 9 YEARS OF INCIDENCE DATA

Background: Dade County (Florida) is the largest county in the United States in which a majority of the population is Hispanic. To describe and compare cancer incidence among white and black Hispanic and non-Hi spanic males in South Florida and to identify those sites showing impo rtant racial-ethnic differences between subgroups, incidence rates wer e determined from 9 years of prospective population-based cancer surve illance data. Methods: All incident cancer cases diagnosed among male residents of Dade County for the period January 1, 1981, through Decem ber 31, 1989, were obtained from the statewide tumor registry for Flor ida, the Florida Cancer Data System. Race- and ethnic-specific age-sta ndardized incidence rates and standardized rate ratios to compare rate s among racial-ethnic subgroups for each site are presented. Results: Compared with white non-Hispanics, white Hispanic males had significan tly higher rates of cancers of the liver, gallbladder, nasal cavity, p enis, and thyroid; acute lymphocytic leukemia; and Kaposi's sarcoma. S ignificantly lower rates were found for cancers of the esophagus, stom ach, colon, rectum, pancreas, lung, testes, bladder, and kidney, and f or mesothelioma, melanoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and chronic lymphoc ytic leukemia. Black Hispanics had significantly lower rates only of c ancers of the esophagus, lung, and prostate than did black non-Hispani cs. Conclusion: Differences were found in incidence rates by race-ethn icity; while incidence rates for most sites among white Hispanic males were lower than among white non-Hispanics, higher rates for several s ites are of particular concern and merit further investigation to dete rmine differences in risk factors and exposures.