According to the American Cancer Society, the 5-year survival rate for Hispanic/Latinos is relatively the same as non-Hispanic whites for most cancers with the exception of melanoma.
Cancer incidence rates have been monitored in Hispanic populations using cancer registries and compared to those in NHW whites in Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Illinois, California, Connecticut, and New York City. All have shown remarkably lower incidences of most cancers in Hispanics with the notable exception of cervical cancers in women. In New Mexico Hispanics were found to have lower rates for all cancers except those in the gall bladder, stomach, and cervix.
Cervical Cancer. Because of the very high incidence of cervical cancer among Hispanic/Latino women, special attention to appropriate screening is recommended.
According to the American Cancer Society the median age at any cancer diagnoses was the youngest among Latinos at age 62 years (2006). Latino cancer incidence was the lowest within all age categories from 20 years to over 75, although prostate cancer in Latino men age 75 was higher than non-Hispanic whites of this same age group (American Cancer Society, 2006).
Studies in Florida compared the incidence of cancer between White Hispanic women and Black Hispanic women and their non-Hispanic counterparts in both races. Both white Hispanic and Black Hispanic women had lower cancer incidence rates than their non-Hispanic counterparts with the following exception: White Hispanic women had higher rates of cancer of the liver, gallbladder, and uterine cervix, when compared to NHW women (Trapido, Chen, Davis, Lewis, MacKinnon, & Strait, 1994).
