Variation in patterns of second primary malignancies across U.S. race and ethnicity groups: a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) analysis

Cancer Causes Control. 2024 May;35(5):799-815. doi: 10.1007/s10552-023-01836-2. Epub 2024 Jan 11.

Abstract

Purpose: One in six incident cancers in the U.S. is a second primary cancer (SPC). Although primary cancers vary considerably by race and ethnicity, little is known about the population-based occurrence of SPC across these groups.

Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 12 data and relative to the general population, we calculated standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for SPC among 2,457,756 Hispanics, non-Hispanic Asian American/Pacific Islanders (NHAAPI), non-Hispanic black (NHB), and non-Hispanic whites (NHW) cancer survivors aged 45 years or older when diagnosed with a first primary cancer (FPC) from 1992 to 2015.

Results: The risk of second primary bladder cancer after first primary prostate cancer was higher than expected in Hispanic (SIR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.01-1.38) and NHAAPI (SIR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.20-1.65) men than NHB and NHW men. Among women with a primary breast cancer, Hispanic, NHAAPI, and NHB women had a nearly 1.5-fold higher risk of a second primary breast cancer, while NHW women had a 6% lower risk. Among men with prostate cancer whose SPC was diagnosed 2 to <12 months, NHB men were at higher risk for colorectal cancer and Hispanic and NHW men for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the same time frame for breast cancer survivors, Hispanic and NHAAPI women were significantly more likely than NHB and NHW women to be diagnosed with a second primary lung cancer.

Conclusion: Future studies of SPC should investigate the role of shared etiologies, stage of diagnosis, treatment, and lifestyle factors after cancer survival across different racial and ethnic populations.

Keywords: Race and ethnicity; Second primary cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cancer Survivors / statistics & numerical data
  • Ethnicity* / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary* / epidemiology
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary* / ethnology
  • Racial Groups / statistics & numerical data
  • Risk Factors
  • SEER Program*
  • United States / epidemiology