Immigrating to the U.S. raises your cancer risk

By David Liu (davidl@foodconsumer.org)

A new study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention indicates that lifestyle including diet may have a great deal of impact on the cancer risk.

The study discovers overall, Hispanics of all origins in the United States are 40 percent more likely to develop cancer than their counterparts in the countries of their origins. 

Paulo S. Pinheiro, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc. at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, lead author of the study, suggests that unhealthy lifestyle such as unhealthy diet, smoking and alcohol use make the difference.

The study conducted in Florida evaluated the kinds of cancers occurring in Hispanic population groups including Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Central and South Americans and compared their risk after immigrating to the United States.

The researchers found not all Hispanics were at the same cancer risk after they moved to the United States.

In comparison, Mexicans had the lowest rates of cancer overall while Puerto Ricans had the highest rates of cancer. Cubans' risk of cancer most closely is similar to that of non-Hispanic whites. Cubans and Puerto Ricans acquired higher risk for diet-related cancers relatively quickly.

Additionally, Cuban men are at higher risk of tobacco-related cancers while Puerto Rican men had high incidence of liver cancer. Mexican women had a higher incidence of cervical cancer compared to women of other origins. 

Overall, the risk for most cancers among Hispanics living in the United States was at least 40 percent higher than those who live in their countries of origin. 

Cubans and Mexicans who moved to the U.S. more than doubled their risk for colorectal cancer. Mexican and Puerto Rican Floridian women doubled their risk for lung cancer compared to their counterparts in Mexico or Puerto Rico.

The increase in the cancer risk cannot be offset by the increased screening and better health care in the United States meaning that lifestyle and or diet in the country may play a role in the increased risk as the researchers suggest.

Dr. T. Collin Campbell, a distinguished nutrition professor at Cornell University, says in his book titled China Study that environmental factors are mainly responsible for the risk of cancer and the majority of cancer cases can be prevented by adopting a healthy diet.