CANCER MORTALITY AMONG PUERTO RICAN-BORN RESIDENTS IN NEW YORK CITY1

Abstract

Rosenwaike, i. (Population Studies Center, U. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104). Cancer mortality among Puerto Rican-born residents in New York City. Am J Epidemiol 1984; 119: 177–85. More than half the 800,000 Puerto Rican migrants living in the United States resided in New York City in 1970. Mortality statistics from 1969–1971 indicate that Puerto Rican natives in the metropolis have a standardized mortality ratio for cancer which is 77% of that of non-Puerto Rican white males and 81% of that of non-Puerto Rican white females. The age-adjusted death rates of the Puerto Rican-born residing in New York City for cancers of the lung, prostate, bladder, ovary, and rectum are low, ranging from 43–70% of those of non-Puerto Rican whites; rates for breast cancer and colon cancer are somewhat lower relative to those for non-Puerto Rican whites. As is true for Puerto Ricans on the island, migrants to New York City have excessive levels of cancer of the cervix and esophagus (each roughly three times that of non-Puerto Rican whites) and cancer of the stomach (almost twice that of non-Puerto Rican whites).