Logo image
Cancer incidence and associations with known risk and protective factors: the Alaska EARTH study
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Cancer incidence and associations with known risk and protective factors: the Alaska EARTH study

Sarah H Nash, Gretchen Day, Garrett Zimpelman, Vanessa Y Hiratsuka and Kathryn R Koller
Cancer causes & control, Vol.30(10), pp.1067-1074
10/2019
DOI: 10.1007/s10552-019-01216-9
PMCID: PMC6736715
PMID: 31428891
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/6736715View
Open Access

Abstract

Cancer is the leading cause of mortality among Alaska Native (AN) people. The Alaska Education and Research Towards Health (EARTH) cohort was established to examine risk and protective factors for chronic diseases, including cancer, among AN people. Here, we describe the cancer experience of the Alaska EARTH cohort in relation to statewide- and region-specific tumor registry data, and assess associations with key cancer risk factors. AN participants were recruited into the Alaska EARTH cohort during 2004-2006. Data collected included patient demographic, anthropometric, medical and family history, and lifestyle information. This study linked the Alaska EARTH data with cancer diagnoses recorded by the Alaska Native Tumor Registry (ANTR) through 12/31/15. We compared EARTH incidence to ANTR statewide incidence. We examined independent associations of smoking status, diet, BMI, and physical activity with incident all-site cancers using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. Between study enrollment and 2015, 171 of 3,712 (4.7%) Alaska EARTH study participants were diagnosed with cancer. The leading cancers among Alaska EARTH participants were female breast, lung, and colorectal cancer, which reflected those observed among AN people statewide. Incidence (95% CI) of cancer (all sites) among Alaska EARTH participants was 629.7 (510.9-748.6) per 100,000 person-years; this was comparable to statewide rates [680.5 (660.0-701.5) per 100,000 population]. We observed lower risk of all-sites cancer incidence among never smokers. Cancer incidence in the Alaska EARTH cohort was similar to incidence observed statewide. Risk and protective factors for leading cancers among AN people mirror those observed among other populations.
Indians Neoplasms/mortality Cohort studies Prospective studies North American/statistics & numerical data Tumor registry Neoplasms/epidemiology Incidence

Details

Metrics

Logo image