British meeting shows a pattern with differences from the US - The British Journal of
Cancer devoted a supplement (#XXIX) in September, 1996 to the proceedings of the Cancer
Research Campaign/Department of Health Symposium on Cancer and Minority Ethnic Groups.
Although data were given regarding situations elsewhere, the primary focus of the meeting was
cancer among minority groups in the UK who now constitute 6% of the population. The issues
are complex due to incomplete data, low awareness of cancer among many ethnic groups,
extensive population admixture, the multiethnic character of immigrants from various regions in
Africa or India, and the problem of relying on names to classify ethnic groups. Unlike the
situation in the US, the incidence of many common cancers, including lung and breast cancers,
is lower among ethnic groups than among the white UK population, who have some of the
highest rates in the world. It is difficult to generalize, however, since the incidence figures of
certain cancers - oral, esophageal, and liver - are higher among ethnic minorities than among
whites. Cancer incidence among ethnics in the UK is likely to increase in the second and
subsequent generations; there is evidence of this occurring. There are interesting variations
among what are incorrectly considered as single racial groups, using the standard classifications
of white, black, etc. Prostate cancer mortality rates, for example, are especially high in blacks of
West African origin (3.5-fold), moderately elevated (1.6-fold) in blacks from the Caribbean, but
only about 60% of that of whites among East Africans. Topics covered include: service
provision in terms of mammographic examinations, for which international data are given,
cervical cancer screening and access to hospice and specialist palliative care; lay beliefs across
cultures; betel quid and tobacco chewing; and smoking cessation programs, although smoking is
generally less prevalent among minorities.
Editor's Comment: - There was too much information in this meeting report to fully do justice to
it in our brief highlight. The minority population of the UK has been established relatively
recently, and a high proportion is still first generation, with cancer rates closer to those of their
countries of origin. It is clear that such classifications as black or Indian are not always useful -
as examples of immigrants to the UK from East Africa, West Africa and the Caribbean indicate.
In the US, the black population is principally of West African origin but long established in this
country, and patterns of cancer epidemiology are clearly different, except perhaps for the
incidence of prostate cancer, which is high in both US and West African blacks.
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