title: Colorectal cancer incidence in Asian migrants to the United States and their descendants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the incidence of colorectal cancer among Asian residents of the United States according to country of birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  We determined the incidence of colorectal cancer during 1973-1986 among Asian residents in three areas of the western United States (Hawaii, San Francisco/Oakland SMSA, and western Washington state) in relation to country of birth. Numerators for the rates were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program; a special tabulation of the 1980 US Census was used to estimate the size and composition of the population at risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  US-born Japanese men experienced incidence rates of colorectal cancer twice as high as foreign-born Japanese men and about 60% higher than those of US-born white men. Incidence among US-born Japanese women was about 40% higher than that among Japanese women born in Japan or US-born white women. Foreign-born Chinese men had about the same incidence of colorectal cancer as US-born white men, while US-born Chinese men experienced slightly reduced rates. Chinese women had rates that were generally 30-40% lower than that of US-born white women, regardless of place of birth. Incidence rates for both US-born and foreign-born Filipinos were 20-50% those of US-born whites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that one or more exposures or characteristics that differ between Japanese migrants and their descendants affect the development of colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109-1024, USA.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Flood
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Potter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D001213:Asian / Q000235:genetics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology