UH Cancer Center findings show Native Hawaiians and African American smokers have a higher risk of lung cancer than smokers of other ethnic / racial groups . The study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that for the same amount of smoking , Native Hawaiians and African Americans have twice the risk of lung cancer than Japanese Americans and Latinos . This new analysis with almost 5,000 cases in the Multiethnic Cohort study shows major differences in the risk of lung cancer among smokers from various ethnic / racial groups .
The findings also suggest that the higher risk of lung cancer for African American smokers and the lower risk for Japanese American smokers are due to differences in smoking intensity ( the amount of nicotine and tobacco carcinogens inhaled from each cigarette ). However , the increased risk for Native Hawaiian smokers remains unexplained .
NATIVE HAWAIIANS SHOULD PARTICULARLY BE ADVISED TO NOT START SMOKING OR TO QUIT IF THEY ARE STILL SMOKING . WE KNOW THAT SMOKING IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF LUNG CANCER IN ALL POPULATIONS .
SMOKING CAUSES 90 PERCENT OF ALL LUNG CANCERS
AND INCREASES THE RISK OF MANY OTHER TYPES OF CANCER AND CHRONIC CONDITIONS .”
– LE MARCHAND
In order to understand the ethnic / racial disparities linked to lung cancer , UH Cancer Center researchers initiated a study to identify biomarkers in blood and urine that are associated with lung cancer risk , and to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the risk .
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