Incidence of adenocarcinoma of the prostate in Asian immigrants to the United States and their descendants

Purpose: We characterize the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the prostate am ong Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants to the United States and thei r descendants. Materials and Methods: Subjects included 1,511 Asian and 16,000 white resid ents of Hawaii, San Francisco/Oakland and western Washington diagnosed with primary adenocarcinoma of the prostate during 1973 through 1986, and ident ified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program. The size and composition of the population at risk were provided by a special tabul ation of the 1980 United States Census. . Results: Among Asian-Americans 45 to 69 years old the annual rate per 100,000 for Chinese (24.0), Japanese ( 29.6) and Filipino (56.8) men born in China, Japan and the Philippines, res pectively, was approximately half that of United States born Chinese, Japan ese and Filipino men (44.4, 42.2 and 111.3, respectively). For Japanese Ame ricans 70 to 84 years old at diagnosis differences in incidence persisted b etween those born in Japan (238.0) and the United States (446.4), while for older Chinese Americans incidence rates were nearly the same for those bor n in China (428.3) and the United States (425.0). In contrast, older Filipi no men born in the Philippines had a higher rate (400.1) than their United States born counterparts (264.9) but the latter rate was based on a small n umber of men. Among United States residents the annual incidence for all ge nerations of Asian-Americans was roughly half that of white men born in the United States (21.5.9). Conclusions: These results suggest that, irrespective of birth place or age , Asian-American men retain I or more genetic or lifestyle characteristics that make their risk of prostate cancer less than that of white residents o f the United States.