Wendy Setiawan on Pancreatic Cancer Incidence Across Ethnic Populations

Wendy Setiawan, PhD, assistant professor of Preventive Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, discusses a study that examined differences in pancreatic cancer incidence across five racial/ethnic populations in a multiethnic cohort.

An analysis of African Americans, Latinos, Caucasians, Japanese Americans, and Native Hawaiians was conducted to determine their likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer. At the time of cohort entry, patients did not have cancer. After a 20-year follow-up, it was reported that Native Hawaiians had the highest incidence rate of pancreatic cancer. This incidence rate was followed by African Americans, Japanese Americans, Caucasians, and Latinos, respectively.

It has not previously been reported that Native Hawaiians and Japanese Americans are at high risk of developing pancreatic cancer relative to Caucasians. Further research should be done to see what other factors could influence this excess risk, Setiawan says.