Cancer Mortality Among American Indians, 1950–67

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Abstract
During 1950–67, 5,897 deaths among American Indians were attributed to cancer. Gallbladder cancer was the only site for which mortality among Indian males and females was significantly higher than that among both white and black males and females in the United States. Well-documented among Indians are the unusually high rates for a variety of gallbladder diseases: neoplastic, calculous, and inflammatory. Indian females had a significant excess in mortality from cancers of the thyroid, and the nose and paranasal sinuses. However, Indian mortality from all neoplasms combined was significantly lower than expected, especially among males. Deficits in Indian mortality were statistically significant for many cancer sites, particularly large intestine, rectum, lung, prostate, breast, ovary, bladder, and brain, and for Hodgkin's disease. The favorable cancer mortality reported for Indians may be related to their high frequency of diabetes, since other population groups have exhibited a negative correlation between these disorders. The unusual patterns of cancer mortality among Indians suggest advantages in the use of this population for etiologic studies of cancer.—J Natl Cancer Inst 49: 959–967, 1972.

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