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. 2016;5(2):29-37.
doi: 10.5539/cco.v5n2p29. Epub 2016 Aug 24.

Colorectal Cancer Survival Disparities among Puerto Rican Hispanics: A Comparison to Racial/Ethnic Groups in the United States

Maria Gonzalez-Pons  1   2 , Mariela Torres  3 , Javier Perez  3 , Anneliese Velez  2 , Jean Pierre Betancourt  2 , Lorena Marcano  2 , Marievelisse Soto-Salgado  4 , Marcia Cruz-Correa  1   2
Affiliations

Colorectal Cancer Survival Disparities among Puerto Rican Hispanics: A Comparison to Racial/Ethnic Groups in the United States

Maria Gonzalez-Pons et al. Cancer Clin Oncol. 2016.

Abstract

Purpose: Ethnic/racial disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) survival have been well documented. However, there is limited information regarding CRC survival among Hispanic subgroups. This study reports the 5-year relative survival of Puerto Rican Hispanic (PRH) CRC patients and the relative risk of death compared to other racial/ethnic groups in the US.

Methods: CRC incidence data from subjects ≥50 years was obtained from the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry and the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2003. Relative survival rates were calculated using the life tables from the population of PR and SEER. A Poisson regression model was used to assess relative risk of death by stage, sex, and age.

Results: A total of 76,444 subjects with incident CRC were analyzed (non-Hispanic White (NHW) n=59,686; non-Hispanic black (NHB) n=7,700; US Hispanics (USH) n=5,699; PRH n=3,359). Overall and stage-specific five-year survival rates differed by race/ethnicity. When comparing PRH to the other racial/ethnic groups, PRH had the lowest survival rates in regional cancers and were the only racial/ethnic group where a marked 5-year survival advantage was observed among females (66.0%) compared to males (60.3%). A comparable and significantly higher relative risk of death of CRC was observed for PRH and NHB compared to NHW.

Conclusions: Our findings establish baseline CRC survival data for PRH living in Puerto Rico. The gender and racial/ethnic disparities observed in PRH compared to US mainland racial/ethnic groups warrant further investigation of the risk factors affecting this Hispanic subgroup.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; colorectal cancer disparities; colorectal cancer survival; racial/ethnic disparities.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
5-year relative survival for CRC by race/ethnicity and sex. Five-year relative survival rates are shown according to race/ethnicity and sex in individuals older than 50 years diagnosed with incident colorectal cancer during 2001–2003 with follow-up through 2007. Males are depicted in blue and females in red dashed lines. Age-standardization was performed using internal weights
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