Cancer Now Leading Cause of Death for Hispanic Americans

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has reported that cancer is now the leading cause of death among Hispanic Americans, overtaking heart disease. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for non-Hispanic whites and African Americans.

The ACS estimates that 112,800 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2012 among Hispanic Americans. Of those, 33,200 will lead to death. Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing minority in the United States, accounting for 16.3% of the population in 2010.

While the rates of new cancer diagnoses and cancer deaths among Hispanics have been declining in recent years, the group continues to have higher rates of new cases and deaths for cancers of the stomach, liver, cervix and gallbladder, which the ACS attributes to greater exposure to cancer-causing infectious agents, lower rates of cervical cancer screening and possibly genetic factors.

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