Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: Hispanics have been reported to have significantly lower rates of incidence and mortality of cancer in many major sites than white non-Hispanics. Little information is available about eye and orbit cancer in white Hispanics. This study was conducted to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of eye and orbit cancer in white Hispanics versus white non-Hispanics who resided in Florida, and to compare the mortality between the ethnic groups of patients with eye and orbit cancer. Methods: White patients with only primary eye and orbit cancer (ICD-O: 690-699) diagnosed between 1981 and 1998 and registered in the Florida Cancer Data System (FCDS) were included for this study. Wilcoxon rank sum test, chi-square test and logistic regression were used to compare demographic and clinical characteristics between Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients. Cox's model was used to evaluate whether Hispanic ethnicity was associated with a better survival in patients with eye and orbit cancer. Results: A total of 2,971 patients aged 0 to 100 (median age=65) years were included in the data analysis. Of them, 372 (12.5%) were Hispanics and 1,532 (51.2%) were males. Cancer in the choroid was the most frequent site in both Hispanic and non-Hispanic groups (28.6% and 36.3%, respectively). No gender difference was observed between two ethnic groups. Age at diagnosis was younger in Hispanics than in non-Hispanics (mean±sd:44.9±27.9 vs. 60.3±21.8 years, p<0.0001), and the finding was consistent across ICD-O topography codes. Pediatric eye and orbit cancer was about 3 times more likely to be diagnosed in Hispanics than in non-Hispanics (OR=3.19, 95% CI:1.94-5.23) after adjustment for ICD-O topography codes. The proportions with metastasis and poorly differentiated tumor grade and tumor size at diagnosis were similar between Hispanics (12.5%, 51.6%, 11.9±13.0 mm) and non-Hispanics (10.3%, 52.8%, 14.4±23.3 mm) and these findings were consistent after adjustment for ICD-O topography codes. Cox regression analysis stratified by ICD-O topography codes indicated that Hispanic patients with eye or orbit cancer had significantly longer overall survival compared to their non-Hispanic counterparts (RR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.43-0.89) after adjusting for gender, tumor stage, pediatric cancer and cancer treatment regimens. Conclusion: This study suggests that white Hispanic patients with eye and orbit cancer may have a better prognosis than white non-Hispanics. Future studies on the environmental and genetic factors in this ethnic group may be warranted.
Keywords: 352 clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: natural history • 610 tumors