Cancer Mortality Among Chinese Americans, 1950–69

in the United States were attributed to cancer. The total cancer mortality rate among Chinese males was signifi-cantly higher (PO.Ol) than that of white males in the United States, but comparable to that of black males, whereas the corresponding rate among Chinese females was significantly lower (P0.01) than that of both white and black females. Compared with whites and blacks, mortality from nasopharyngeal cancer was elevated 26-fold in Chinese males and 22-fold in Chinese females, with declining rates during the study interval. Mortality from primary liver cancer and lung cancer, particularly in fe-males, was also significantly high among Chinese. Thyroid cancer mortality was excessive in Chinese of both sexes, but significant only in males. On the other hand, signifi-cantly low mortality was reported among Ch inese males for prostate and bladder cancers, and among Chinese females for breast and cervical cancers. Mortality from cancers of the large intestine and rectum in Chinese was excessive in males, but low in females. The mortality patterns by can-cer site among Chinese generally agree with cancer in-cidence statistics in Hawaii and California and suggest shifts away from the cancer risks among Chinese in Asia and toward those prevailing in the general population in the United States.-J Natl Cancer Inst 52:659-665, 1974.