The Hispanic/Latino population is the second largest racial/ethnic group in the continental United States and Hawaii, accounting for 18% (60.6 million) of the total population. An additional 3 million Hispanic Americans live in Puerto Rico. Every 3 years, the American Cancer Society reports on cancer occurrence, risk factors, and screening for Hispanic individuals in the United States using the most recent population‐based data. An estimated 176,600 new cancer cases and 46,500 cancer deaths will occur among Hispanic individuals in the continental United States and Hawaii in 2021. Compared to non‐Hispanic Whites (NHWs), Hispanic men and women had 25%‐30% lower incidence (2014‐2018) and mortality (2015‐2019) rates for all cancers combined and lower rates for the most common cancers, although this gap is diminishing. For example, the colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence rate ratio for Hispanic compared with NHW individuals narrowed from 0.75 (95% CI, 0.73‐0.78) in 1995 to 0.91 (95% CI, 0.89‐0.93) in 2018, reflecting delayed declines in CRC rates among Hispanic individuals in part because of slower uptake of screening. In contrast, Hispanic individuals have higher rates of infection‐related cancers, including approximately two‐fold higher incidence of liver and stomach cancer. Cervical cancer incidence is 32% higher among Hispanic women in the continental US and Hawaii and 78% higher among women in Puerto Rico compared to NHW women, yet is largely preventable through screening. Less access to care may be similarly reflected in the low prevalence of localized‐stage breast cancer among Hispanic women, 59% versus 67% among NHW women. Evidence‐based strategies for decreasing the cancer burden among the Hispanic population include the use of culturally appropriate lay health advisors and patient navigators and targeted, community‐based intervention programs to facilitate access to screening and promote healthy behaviors. In addition, the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on cancer trends and disparities in the Hispanic population should be closely monitored.

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To be effective, stress management interventions for Latinas receiving chemotherapy may necessitate more attention from an interventionist, delivery of the intervention over a longer interval, and/or a group-based format.

Introduction: National data on the epidemiology of cancer are commonly reported by broad racial/ethnic categories, such as “Hispanic.” However, few studies have disaggregated Hispanic groups and explored mortality differentials in this heterogeneous population. This paper aims to further examine cancer mortality differentials among Hispanic subgroups in the U.S.Materials and Methods: The study examined cancer deaths in the United States from 2004 to 2014 among decedents classified as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central/South American and non-Hispanic white on the death certificate among those who were 20 years or older at the time of death. Data were obtained from the National Vital Statistics System. Sex-specific age-adjusted mortality rates were computed for a 10-year period and each individual year, for all cancers combined. Differences by age group, cancer sites, and age distribution were also assessed.Results: A total of 296,486 Hispanic cancer deaths were identified. Mortality rates of the Hispanic subgroups compare favorably with those of non-Hispanic whites. The mortality rates for Mexicans are very similar to those of all Hispanics combined, whereas the rates for Cuban and Puerto Ricans are higher. Dominicans and Central/South Americans had the overall lowest mortality rates. Statistically significant decreases in cancer mortality rates were noted in some sub-groups, but rates increased among Dominican women. Age-adjusted mortality rates by cancer site varied among Hispanics subgroups and gender. Among Cubans, only 5% of cancer deaths occurred before the age of 50 compared to 16% of cancer deaths among Central/South American.Conclusion: While it is common to present data on the burden of cancer among Hispanics as an aggregate group, this study illustrates that the burden of cancer varies by Hispanic subgroups. The disaggregation of Hispanics by ancestry/country of origin allows for a clearer understanding of the health status of this growing population and is needed if health disparities are to be adequately identified, understood and addressed.

The Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network (TBCCN) is one of the Community Network Program sites funded (2005–10) by the National Cancer Institute’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. TBCCN was tasked to form a sustainable, community-based partnership network focused on the goal of reducing cancer health disparities among racial–ethnic minority and medically underserved populations. This article reports evaluation outcome results from a social network analysis and discusses the varying TBCCN partner roles—in education, training, and research—over a span of three years (2007–09). The network analysis included 20 local community partner organizations covering a tricounty area in Southwest Florida. In addition, multiple externally funded, community-based participatory research pilot projects with community–academic partners have either been completed or are currently in progress, covering research topics including culturally targeted colorectal and prostate cancer screening education, patient navigation focused on preventing cervical cancer in rural Latinas, and community perceptions of biobanking. The social network analysis identified a trend toward increased network decentralization based on betweenness centrality and overall increase in number of linkages, suggesting network sustainability. Degree centrality, trust, and multiplexity exhibited stability over the three-year time period. These results suggest increased interaction and interdependence among partner organizations and less dependence on the cancer center. Social network analysis enabled us to quantitatively evaluate partnership network functioning of TBCCN in terms of network structure and information and resources flows, which are integral to understanding effective coalition practice based on Community Coalition Action Theory ( Butterfoss and Kegler 2009). Sharing the results of the social network analysis with the partnership network is an important component of our coalition building efforts. A comprehensive baseline needs assessment for the next five-year funding phase (2010–15) of TBCCN Community Networks Program Centers (CNP Center) is under way to further evaluate the growth and sustainability of the partnership network, with an emphasis on community-based intervention research that takes into account culture and literacy. [social network, health care disparities, cancer screening]

This study identified several risk factors for depression. Study findings highlight the need for intervention programs to help women normalize emotions and thoughts related to cancer and its treatments, and to improve their cognitive abilities to overcome, accept, and positively reframe cancer and other difficult situations women face throughout the cancer continuum. The importance of family and peer support to improve depressive symptoms was also evident.

The Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network (TBCCN) is one of 25 Community Network Programs funded by the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities with the objectives to create a collaborative infrastructure of academic and community based organizations and to develop effective and sustainable interventions to reduce cancer health disparities. In order to describe the network characteristics of the TBCCN as part of our ongoing evaluation efforts, we conducted social network analysis surveys with our community partners in 2007 and 2008. One key finding showed that the mean trust value for the 20 community partners in the study increased from 1.8 to 2.1 (p<0.01), suggesting a trend toward increased trust in the network. These preliminary results suggest that TBCCN has led to greater collaboration among the community partners that were formed through its capacity-building and evidence-based dissemination activities for impacting cancer health disparities at the community level.