Young Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders face highest cancer death rates

Until the 2000 U.S. Census, race reporting at the federal level consolidated those of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander ancestry into a single category. It wasn’t until 2018 that this racial breakdown was finally uniformly reflected on death certificates nationwide, which made it possible for researchers, primarily at NCI, to take a closer look at U.S. cancer death rates. These researchers found that young Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI), between the ages of 20 and 49, experience the highest rates of cancer death among people their age, more than any other racial group in the U.S. The findings were recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

These findings validate, nationally, the work the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center researchers have known for decades about the Native Hawaiian and other ethnicities living in Hawaiʻi. The Hawaiʻi Tumor Registry, a part of the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, is responsible for cancer surveillance in Hawaiʻi. Since 1973, the HTR has continuously collected, analyzed, and reported disaggregated race/ethnicity data of Hawaiʻi’s unique multiethnic population.

“These disparities clearly demonstrate the importance of disaggregation of Asians and NHPIs from one another as they experience dramatically different cancer burdens,” said Brenda Hernandez, PhD, MPH, UH Cancer Center researcher and HTR Principal Investigator.

UH Cancer Center researchers have been at the forefront of seminal research on racial and ethnic disparities in cancer. The internationally-renowned Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study, initiated in the early 1990s, has generated a multitude of studies on racial/ethnic differences in cancer risk, progression, and outcomes. MEC researchers found that the high rates of cancer in Native Hawaiians were due, at least in part, to the stronger effect of smoking and excess weight compared to what was observed in other ethnic groups.

Results point to the need for culturally-based cancer prevention programs, especially among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. A UH Cancer Center-led project, Kū Ola (upstanding and principled healthy living), works to support culturally-grounded programs and services that promote the health and well-being of Native Hawaiian men. “Kū Ola focuses on the strengths of Hawaiian culture and communities. Our statewide hui kūkākūkā (discussion sessions) with Native Hawaiian men provide a vehicle for these men to gather among themselves to support their collective health and well-being,” said Kevin Cassel, DrPH, UH Cancer Center researcher and Principal Investigator.