title: Cancer in Pacific people in New Zealand.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe cancer incidence rates among Pacific people living in New Zealand from 1981 to 2004.
  
  
  METHODS
  Linked census-cancer registration data were used to calculate age-standardized cancer incidence rates for Pacific people. Both trends over time within Pacific people and differences in rates between Pacific and European/Other people in New Zealand were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pacific rates were higher for cancers of the cervix, endometrium, gallbladder, lip, mouth and pharynx, liver, lung, ovary, pancreas, stomach, and thyroid, and lower for colorectal, bladder, and testicular cancers and melanoma. Differences were large, ranging from a 90 % lower rate of melanoma to over seven times higher rate of liver cancer compared to European/Other. Breast and prostate cancers were the commonest malignancies for Pacific women and men, respectively. Important changes for Pacific women over time include a 64 % decrease in cervical cancer incidence (ptrend = 0.02) and a 245 % increase for lung cancer (ptrend = 0.02), while men had a 366 % increase in prostate cancer (ptrend = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pacific people in New Zealand have a disproportionate cancer burden related to infectious diseases such as HPV and Hepatitis B. However, with escalating evidence for causal associations between diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity with various cancers, the challenge will be to prevent these cancers from rising in Pacific people who have the highest rates of these conditions in New Zealand. Disparities for tobacco-related cancers support tobacco consumption as another important cause of cancer incidence disparity. Continued efforts are needed to reduce infectious disease and improve screening program uptake among Pacific people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago, New Zealand. ineke.meredith@otago.ac.nz
authors.forename: Ineke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Meredith
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sarfati
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Blakely
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000150:complications; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D010139:Pacific Islands / Q000208:ethnology; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects