ABSTRACT
Cancer mortality data collected by the Guam Cancer Registry for the period 1998 through 2002 were analyzed by cancer site, age, and ethnicity. Ethnicity and site specific age-adjusted cancer mortality rates for Guam were calculated utilizing Guam 2000 census data, the US 2000 standard population and compared to U.S. 2002 age-adjusted cancer mortality rates. Age-adjusted cancer mortality rates for ethnic populations represented on Guam, except those of leukemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, were high in relation to other population groups and higher than U.S. averages. Some highlights include: 1. Chamorros had high age-adjusted mortality rates for mouth and pharynx (15.5 vs. 2.7 [corrected] U.S.), nasopharynx (9.1 vs. 0.2 U.S.), lung and bronchus (66.9 vs. 54.9 U.S.), colon-rectum-anus (28.6 vs. 19.7 U.S.), breast (32.0 vs. 28.0 U.S.) and prostate cancer (40.9 vs. 27.9 U.S.); 2. Chamorros (6.4 vs. 2.5 U.S.) and Micronesians (6.3) had high and nearly identical age-adjusted mortality rates for cancer of the mouth and pharynx when nasopharyngeal cancers were excluded; 3. Micronesians had the highest mortality rate for liver cancer over all ethnicities documented (43.5 vs. 4.9 U.S.); 4. Asians had the highest mortality rates for pancreatic (12.5 vs. 10.5 U.S.) and cervical cancer (8.5 vs. 2.6 U.S.); 5. Caucasians had the highest mortality rates for leukemia (19.9 vs. 7.5 U.S.) and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (17.6 vs. 7.6 U.S.). Suggestions are made for further research on both explaining and ameliorating cancer mortality disparities among ethnic groups on Guam.