Causes Of Cancer: The Leading Cause Of Death Among Asian Americans

The incidence of cancer is higher in Black Americans, both men and women, than non-Hispanic Whites. Men are more likely to have lung, pancreatic and stomach cancer. They are more likely to die from prostate cancer. Black African American women are 36% more likely to die from breast cancer.

Asian Americans face health disparities in cancer, chronic diseases, hypertension, and diabetes, mental health, and among the elderly (Sy, n.d.). I wanted to focus on what one of the most leading cause of Asian Americans or Pacific Islander is Cancer. Asian Americans generally have lower cancer rates than the non-Hispanics white population. However, disparities still exist in the certain type of cancer. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Asians are 40 percent less likely to have prostate cancer as white men, but they are twice as likely to have stomach cancer. Although Asians women are 30 percent less likely to have breast cancer than white women, they are twice as likely to have stomach cancer. OHM also conclude that Asian men and women have 2.1 and 2.3 times the incidence of liver and IBD cancer as the non-Hispanic white population. Asian are twice as likely to die from stomach cancer as compared to the non-Hispanic white population, and Asian women are 2.4 times as likely to die from the same disease (Office of Minority Health,

Declining cancer incidence and mortality rates in the United States have continued through the first decade of the twenty-first century. However, Black Americans continue to have the higher cancer mortality rates and shorter survival times. This review discusses and compares only breast and prostate cancer mortality rates and mortality trends for Blacks and Whites. The complex relationship between socioeconomic status and race and its contribution to racial cancer disparities is discussed.

Asian-Americans are people who have origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In American census of 2000, Asians comprise of roughly 3.6% of the population or 10 million people. By 2050 the population will grow to 36.6 million people. Although Asian American women have the highest life expectancy, they “suffer disproportionately from certain types of cancers, tuberculosis and hepatitis B” (2). Liver cancer cases are relatively low in the United States but highest among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Hepatitis B is a major cause of liver disease. Approximately 1 out of 12 Asian Americans has the chronic version of Hepatitis B. Many do not recognize it before it is too late (1).

Smoking “remains the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality from cancer, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the United States”3 especially among Hispanic adults. According to the article “Alcohol consumption is an established cause of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colorectum, and female breast [cancers]”3. In the Hispanic/Latino populations “in some studies the prevalence of binge drinking (5 or more drinks per occasion) in Hispanics males is higher compared with non-Hispanic whites”3 so HIspanic males are more at risk of having certain types of cancer related to alcohol consumption as compared to other populations in the United States. Obesity is another risk factor that increases the incidence of cancer rates in the Hispanic/Latino population. Obesity is associated with breast, esophageal, colon, kidney, and pancreas cancer. Among adults “the obesity prevalence among Mexican women increased from 26.6% to 44% and in men from 15.7% to 36%”3. Since the rates of obesity are increasing, so are the number of incidences of cancer associated with

African Americans have 33% higher chancer of dying from cancer than White Americans although White Americans have a higher prevalence of the disease (Shavers, Brown 334). Preventable types of cancer kill African American’s in record numbers. What does this mean for African Americans? What does this mean for cancer as a whole? The African American experience with cancer is marked by under treatment and high mortality. To understand the causes behind these disparities in the African American cancer experience, one must understand how culture affects one’s experience with illness as a whole. Culture creates the framework in which one understands and processes the world. Culture by definition is a guide for one’s thoughts and behaviors. As one’s

The according to this article cancer is becoming a more prominent cause of death for Americans. Originally heart disease was the leading cause, however cancer over the past few years has claimed the number one spot. There is also an increase across ethnic groups. Cancer affects me directly because I am part African American and studies have shown that African Americans have a higher chance of developing some form of cancer. Although I do not know my biological family health background, it is something I will have to be conscious of in the future.

?Although cancer has no race limits cancer incidence and death statistics reveal that certain groups of people that live in the United States are disproportionately affected by cancer when compared to other groups which ultimately leads to premature death? (cancer.gov). Despite there being substantial progress in the treatment of cancer regarding screening, diagnosis, and prevention over the years; there are still significant disparities that exist amongst groups of people with no clear explanation as to why they exist. Typically these populations of interest are characterized by various factors such as ethnicity, geographic location, income, or race. ?The National Cancer Institute (NCI) defines "cancer health disparities" as?adverse

Cancer is the second largest cause of death in the United States of America, overall, according to the CDC, clocking in at around 575,691 lives in 2013 alone. Countless people have been affected or know someone who has been affected by cancer, and the search for a cure has been raging on for decades. Renal cancers, or cancer of the kidneys, the two bean shaped organs located to the right and left adjacent to a person’s spine, is the fifth most common form of cancer within the United States, affecting too many, too often. Often overshadowed by the greater publicized cancers, this often deadly disease’s information is not as widely known to the public as it should be to help combat this harmful cancer, and help those who are harmed by it.

Asian American men are 40% less likely to have prostate cancer, but twice likely to have stomach cancer compared with white men. Asian American women are 30% low chance to have breast cancer but twice as likely to have stomach cancer as compare with white women. Both

1. Introduction and Problem Statement: Cancer has a major societal impact in the United States and across the globe. In 2015, an estimated 1,658,370 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in United States, and 589,430 people are estimated to die of the disease. Unfortunately, low cancer cell availability in human samples is a current barrier for early disease detection. There is an unmet medical need to improve methods of early cancer detection so that patients can receive treatment before cancer metastasizes to other areas of the body, resulting in better health outcomes.

Cirrhosis, the development of scar tissue in the liver, can often result in liver cancer. Additionally, some environmental factors, such as exposure to particular chemicals or eating food contaminated with aflatoxin, a toxin produced by mold on nuts and grains, may raise the risk of cancer. Excessive alcohol and tobacco usage is associated with developing cirrhosis and liver cancer as well. Obesity and diabetes are also risk factors in developing liver cancer. A person can lower their risk of liver cancer by avoiding and treating hepatitis infections, limiting their alcohol and tobacco use and avoiding obesity. Moreover, a person should control their exposure to cancer causing chemicals and make healthy food choices. A person should also treat any inherited liver diseases that could increase their risk of cancer.

It was one thought that lung cancer was strictly caused by lifestyle choices, but over the past years, it has been shown that lifestyle isn’t the thing that can potentially allow one to contract lung cancer. The environment along with tobacco use and genetics can also play a role in contracting lung cancer. In an industrial world, pollution has been a reoccurring problem. With emissions from vehicles and industrial power plants, air pollution and/or smog has been hovering over us. In places like China who are thriving in the industrial world, are being greatly affected by air pollution. According to Brody, “In Asia, lung cancer is alarmingly

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer, accounting for 9.5% of all incident cancer cases and one of the leading causes of the cancer-related deaths worldwide 1. The recent International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) report estimated that every year there are about one million new cases of CRC diagnosed worldwide and half a million deaths2. There is a large variation in CRC incidence rates between countries, with more cases in first-world countries and fewer in developing countries. Like most Western countries in recent decades, Canada has had a relatively stable age-standardized incidence rate and a slightly declining mortality rate of CRC3. However, past decades have seen significant increases in both incidence and mortality rates of CRC in Chinese population4,5. Tianjin, the third largest city located in the east coastal area in China,

In recent years, cancer prevalence has been increasing globally. It is now one of the top 10 causes of death among the middle and high income countries worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2008). In Singapore, cancer has surpassed cardiovascular disease and become the top killer over the last 3 years (Ministry of Health, 2007). Breast cancer tops the chart among Singaporean women (Health Promotion Board, 2007). Thousands of women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually and it causes approximately 270 deaths each year (Jara-Lazaro, et al., 2010). The lifetime risk that a woman in Singapore getting breast cancer is now 1 in every 17 which has risen compared to past two decades (National Cancer Centre Singapore, 2006). Hence, breast