Why do Black Americans have a higher risk of pancreatic cancer than White Americans?
BACKGROUND
For several decades, the incidence of pancreatic cancer has been 50% to 90% higher among blacks than among whites in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors that may contribute to this racial disparity.


METHODS
We conducted a population-based case-control study of pancreatic cancer diagnosed in Atlanta (GA), Detroit (MI), and 10 New Jersey counties from August 1986 through April 1989. In-person interviews were exclusively with subjects (526 cases and 2153 population controls), rather than with next of kin.


RESULTS
The determinants of the higher incidence of pancreatic cancer among blacks than among whites differed by sex. Among men, established risk factors (, cigarette smoking, long-term diabetes mellitus, family history of pancreatic cancer) account for 46% of the disease in blacks and 37% in whites, potentially explaining all but 6% of the excess risk among blacks. Among women, however, other factors appear to contribute to the racial disparity, notably moderate/heavy alcohol consumption (>7 drinks per week) and elevated body mass index (above the first quartile). When these less accepted risk factors were combined with the established risk factors, 88% of the disease in black women and 47% in white women were explained, potentially accounting for all of the excess risk among blacks in our female study population.


CONCLUSIONS
Among men, the established risk factors (mainly cigarette smoking and diabetes mellitus) explain almost the entire black/white disparity in incidence. Among women, however, other factors appear to contribute to the racial disparity, notably moderate/heavy alcohol consumption and elevated body mass index. In the absence of these factors, pancreatic cancer incidence rates among blacks probably would not exceed those among whites of either sex.
Silverman
Debra T
DT
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. silvermd@mail.nih.gov
Hoover
Robert N
RN
Brown
Linda M
LM
Swanson
G Marie
GM
Schiffman
Mark
M
Greenberg
Raymond S
RS
Hayes
Richard B
RB
Lillemoe
Keith D
KD
Schoenberg
Janet B
JB
Schwartz
Ann G
AG
Liff
Jonathan
J
Pottern
Linda M
LM
Fraumeni
Joseph F
JF
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009515:New Jersey / Q000453:epidemiology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics; D011159:Population Surveillance; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D044465:White People