Published:
Immigrants From India, Pakistan Face U.S. Prostate, Breast Cancer Risks
MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A team of
researchers at West Virginia University has shown that U.S. immigrants from
India andPakistan take on the habits of their adopted country, increasing
their risks of prostate cancer among male immigrants and breast cancer among
females.
"Breast cancer and prostate cancer develop due to many reasons, but
environmental factors and lifestyle play a major role in these cancers," said
Jame Abraham, M.D., medical director for WVU's Mary Babb Randolph Cancer
Center and leader of the research team. "When men and women fromIndia and
Pakistan migrate tothe United States, their disease profiles change,
mirroring the American risk."
The study, to be published in the Sept. 15 issue of the journal Cancer, a
peer-reviewed journal published by American Cancer Society, is the first
epidemiological analysis of the Pakistani and Indian immigrant population. The
authors looked at data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
(SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute, examining almost 7,000 cases
between 1988 and 2003.
InIndia, the No. 1 cancer among men is cancer of the mouth related to
tobacco use, and the No. 1 cancer among women is cancer of the cervix, which
could be caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), poor perinatal care and lack of
screening and early detection. In the immigrant population, by contrast, the
top cancer is prostate cancer for men and breast cancer for women.
The Pakistani and Indian immigrant population inthe United States also
experiences rising rates of lung and colon cancer, again mirroring U.S.
patterns.
Immigrants have been shown to embrace the Western lifestyle of marrying
later, having fewer children, getting less exercise and adopting a diet higher
in fat, alcohol and meat, and lower in fiber.
"We need to educate the immigrant population about risk factors as well as
preventive measures they can take to reduce their risk of prostate, breast
cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer," Dr. Abraham said.
Immigrants fromIndia andPakistan make up about 1.5 percent of the U.S.
population. They experience a better survival rate from cancer compared with
the non-Hispanic white U.S. population.
Abraham's coauthors are Akm Hossain, M.D. and Aasim Sehbai, M.D., also
with the WVU Cancer Center, and Rachel Abraham, M.D., of the WVU School of
Medicine's Department of Community Medicine.
This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more
information, visit http://www.newswise.com.
SOURCE West Virginia University Health Sciences Center
Copyright © 2009, PRNewswire
Copyright © 2009, NewsBlaze,
Daily NewsTags: ,HEA,MTC,ASI,TRI,POL,WOM,WVU-Immigrants-cancer
Search News
Daily News
