CANCER INCIDENCE AMONG AMERICAN-INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES, 1980 THROUGH 1987

Objectives. This study uses Indian Health Service inpatient data to es timate cancer incidence among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Met hods. Hospital discharge data for 1980 through 1987 were used to ident ify cases of cancer for 21 sites in women and 18 sites in men. Estimat es of incidence were directly standardized to data from the Surveillan ce, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for the same time frame. Res ults. Cancers of the gallbladder, kidney, stomach, and cervix show gen erally high rates among many American Indian and Alaska Native communi ties, and cancers of the liver and nasopharynx arc high in Alaska. Of the relatively common cancers in Whites, American Indians and Alaska N atives experience lower rates for cancers of the breast, uterus, ovari es, prostate, lung, colon, rectum, and urinary bladder and for leukemi a and melanoma. Variation among geographic areas and among tribal grou ps is observed for many important cancer sites. Conclusions. This stud y demonstrates significant variations of cancer rates among American I ndians and Alaska Natives, with important implications for Indian Heal th Service cancer control programs. The study also supports the potent ial use of hospital discharge data for estimating chronic disease amon g diverse American Indian and Alaska Native communities.