Cancer among the circumpolar Inuit, 1989-2003. II. Patterns and trends.
OBJECTIVE
This is the second of 2 papers reporting on the result of the Circumpolar Inuit Cancer Review, an international collaborative effort involving researchers and health officials from Alaska, Canada and Greenland.


METHODS
Inuit cancer cases by age-sex group and anatomic site were obtained from the regional cancer registries.


RESULTS
Cancer in general is increasing among Inuit, in all regions, and among both men and women. Inuit continue to be at extreme high risk, relative to non-Inuit and to comparisons of global populations, for the historically recognized so-called traditional cancers (such as cancer of the nasopharynx and salivary glands). Among the so-called modern cancers prevalent in developed societies, lung cancer is rapidly increasing in incidence (especially in Canada), such that the rate in both Inuit men and women is the highest in the world; other cancers, such as colorectal cancer, are also on the rise (especially in Alaska), while breast and prostate cancer remain low relative to the non-Inuit population. The decline in cervical cancer is a positive development; in the 3 regions, the rate in Greenland is the highest.


CONCLUSIONS
Data such as these can form the basis of interventions directed towards known risk factors such as smoking, diet, obesity, viral and bacterial infections, and low screening prevalence. Cancer surveillance is a basic task of the public health system; in the Arctic, it is particularly important as Inuit continue to undergo further changes in their life-styles and social environments.
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Kelly
Janet
J
Lanier
Anne
A
Santos
Maria
M
Healey
Sylvia
S
Louchini
Rabia
R
Friborg
Jeppe
J
Young
Kue
K
Ng
Carmina
C
D000413:Alaska / Q000453:epidemiology; D001110:Arctic Regions / Q000453:epidemiology; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006116:Greenland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D004930:Inuit / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology*