Caregivers with Cancer Patients: Focus on Hispanics

Abstract

Cancer is a public health concern and causes more than 8 million deaths annually. Cancer triggers include population growth, aging, and variations in the prevalence and distribution of the critical risk factors for cancer. Multiple hallmarks are involved in cancer, including cell proliferation, evading growth suppressors, activating invasion and metastasis, resisting cell death, enabling replicative immortality, reprogramming energy metabolism, and evading immune destruction. Both cancer and dementia are age-related and potentially lethal, impacting survival. With increasing aging populations, cancer and dementia cause a burden on patients, family members, the health care system, and informal/formal caregivers. In the current article, we highlight cancer prevalence with a focus on different ethnic groups, ages, and genders. Our article covers risk factors and genetic causes associated with cancer and types of cancers and comorbidities. We extensively cover the impact of cancer in Hispanics in comparison to that in other ethnic groups. We also discuss the status of caregivers with cancer patients and urgent needs from the state and federal support for caregivers.

Keywords: aging population; cancer; caregivers; cell proliferation; metastatic; resisting cell death.

Figure 1

Hallmarks of cancer. There are eight hallmarks of cancer, including developing capabilities to sustain cell proliferative signaling, evading growth suppressors, activating invasion and metastasis, inducing angiogenesis, resisting cell death, enabling replicative immortality, reprogramming energy metabolism, and evading immune destruction.

Figure 2

Top 10 cancer sites for the Hispanic group (2014–2018). (A) Cancer incidence rates per 100,000 in women. (B) Cancer incidence rates per 100,000 in men. (C) Cancer incidence rates per 100,000 in men and women.

Figure 2

Top 10 cancer sites for the Hispanic group (2014–2018). (A) Cancer incidence rates per 100,000 in women. (B) Cancer incidence rates per 100,000 in men. (C) Cancer incidence rates per 100,000 in men and women.

Figure 3

Possible hypothesis regarding the mechanism of carcinogenesis.

Figure 4

The possible cancer risk factors in the Hispanic ethnic group.

Figure 5

Caregivers’ burden. The caregiving burden progressively increases as the disease advances.

Figure 6

Cultural and contextual factors that may influence caregiving practices in the Hispanic population.