Cancer Epidemiology in Hispanic Populations: An Analysis of Funded Observational Research at the National Cancer Institute

• Published in: Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention Vol. 32; no. 5; pp. 653 - 658
• Main Authors: Elena, Joanne W, Gallicchio, Lisa, Pottinger, Camille A, Akif, Kaitlin E, Hanisch, Rachel, Kennedy, Amy E, Lai, Gabriel Y, Mahabir, Somdat, Martin, Damali N, Srinivasan, Shobha, Yu, Catherine T, Lam, Tram K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.2023
• Subjects: Biomedical Research; Financing, Organized; Hispanic or Latino; Humans; National Cancer Institute (U.S.); Neoplasms - epidemiology; United States - epidemiology; United States
• ISSN: 1055-9965; 1538-7755
• DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-22-0815

More than 62 million people self-identified as Hispanic/Latino (H/L) in the 2020 United States census. The U.S. H/L population has higher burden of certain cancers compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Key term search using the NIH Query/View/Report (QVR) system, along with Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization codes identified cancer epidemiology research grants in H/L populations funded by the NCI as a primary or secondary funder from fiscal years 2016 through 2021. Three reviewers identified eligible grants based on specified inclusion/exclusion criteria and a codebook for consistency extracting key characteristics. A total of 450 grants were identified through the QVR system using key words related to H/Ls; 41 cancer epidemiology grants remained after applying exclusion criteria. These grants contained specific aims focused on H/Ls (32%) or included H/Ls as part of a racial/ethnic comparison (68%). NCI was the primary funder of the majority of the grants (85%), and most of the research grants focused on cancer etiology (44%) and/or survivorship (49%). Few grants (10%) investigated environmental exposures. This article provides an overview of NCI-funded cancer epidemiology research in H/L populations from 2016 to 2021. Future cancer epidemiology research should reflect the changing dynamics of the U.S. demography with diverse, representative populations and well-characterized ethnicity. Research that carefully measures the relevant biological, environmental, behavioral, psychologic, sociocultural, and clinical risk factors will be critical to better understanding the nuanced patterns influencing cancer-related outcomes in the heterogenous H/L population.