title: Papillary thyroid cancer incidence rates vary significantly by birthplace in Asian American women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate how birthplace influences the incidence of papillary thyroid cancer among Asian American women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Birthplace- and ethnic-specific age-adjusted and age-specific incidence rates were calculated using data from the California Cancer Registry for the period 1988-2004. Birthplace was statistically imputed for 30% of cases using a validated imputation method based on age at Social Security number issuance. Population estimates were obtained from the US Census. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for foreign-born vs. US-born women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age-adjusted incidence rates of papillary thyroid cancer among Filipina (13.7 per 100,000) and Vietnamese (12.7) women were more than double those of Japanese women (6.2). US-born Chinese (IRR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.40-0.59) and Filipina women (IRR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.58-0.96) had significantly higher rates than those who were foreign-born; the opposite was observed for Japanese women (IRR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.17-2.08). The age-specific patterns among all foreign-born Asian women and US-born Japanese women showed a slow steady increase in incidence until age 70. However, among US-born Asian women (except Japanese), substantially elevated incidence rates during the reproductive and menopausal years were evident.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ethnic- and birthplace-variation in papillary thyroid cancer incidence can provide insight into the etiology of this increasingly common and understudied cancer.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Prevention Institute of California, 2201 Walnut Ave., Suite 300, Fremont, CA 94538, USA. pam@cpic.org
authors.forename: Pamela L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Horn-Ross
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: McClure
authors.forename: Ellen T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Christina A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Theresa H M
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Keegan
authors.forename: Rudolph P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Rull
authors.forename: Thu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Quach
authors.forename: Scarlett Lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gomez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian; D002140:California; D002277:Carcinoma; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010679:Philippines / Q000208:ethnology; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology