In a report in the journal CA published by the American Cancer Society, Asian-Americans, both those born here and new immigrants, have distinctive patterns of cancer The report is based on information on cancer cases collected by California from 2000 to 2002, and focuses on five ethnic groups: Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. California has a large Asian population, 3.7 million.
Although Asian-Americans actually have lower rates than other groups in the United States, cancer is still a major cause of death for Asians, killing more of them than heart disease. Groups that have been in this country the longest are likely to develop cancers that are most common here, like breast and colorectal cancer, though their rates are still significantly below those of non-Hispanic whites.Recent immigrants, by contrast, tend to suffer from the same types of cancer that are predominant in their native countries, like stomach and liver cancer.
The hepatitis B virus is endemic in Asia and chronic infection is a major cause of liver cancer there and in recent immigrants. A study last year found high rates of infection in East Asian immigrants in New York.
Compared with other Asians, Chinese women have high incidence and death rates from lung cancer. The reason is not known, since their smoking rates are low. But they do have high exposures to secondhand smoke at home and at work, and to cooking-oil vapors from high-temperature frying. (Source: Denise Grady, The New York Times, Jul 11, 2007).