Cancer Epidemiology in Hispanic Populations: An Analysis of Funded Observational Research at the National Cancer Institute.

BACKGROUND: More than 62 million people self-identified as Hispanic/Latino (H/L) in the 2020 United States (U.S.) Census. The U.S. H/L population has higher burden of certain cancers compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts.

METHODS: Key term search using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Query, View and Report (QVR) system, along with Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization codes identified cancer epidemiology research grants in H/L populations funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a primary or secondary funder from fiscal years 2016 through 2021. Three reviewers identified eligible grants based on specified inclusion/exclusion criteria and a codebook for consistency extracting key characteristics.

RESULTS: 450 grants were identified through the QVR system using key words related to H/Ls; 41 cancer epidemiology grants remained after applying exclusion criteria. These grants contained specific aims focused on H/Ls (32%) or included H/Ls as part of a racial/ethnic comparison (68%). NCI was the primary funder of the majority of the grants (85%), and most of the research grants focused on cancer etiology (44%) and/or survivorship (49%). Few grants (10%) investigated environmental exposures.

CONCLUSIONS: This article provides an overview of NCI-funded cancer epidemiology research in H/L populations from 2016 to 2021. Future cancer epidemiology research should reflect the changing dynamics of the U.S. demography with diverse, representative populations and well-characterized ethnicity.

IMPACT: Research that carefully measures the relevant biological, environmental, behavioral, psychological, sociocultural, and clinical risk factors will be critical to better understanding the nuanced patterns influencing cancer-related outcomes in the heterogenous H/L population.