Abstract B16: Cancer survivorship prevalence: Descriptive analysis of cancer survivors in Puerto Rico
Authors: Ortiz-Martinez Ana Patricia , Perez-Caraballo Aixa M. , Gonzalez-Lorenzo Keyla , Cotto-Negron Coral , Centeno Hilmaris , Serrano-Collazo Crisanta , Flores-Febo Mitchelle , Torres Carlos , Perez Naydi , Ortiz-Ortiz Karen 
Published: May 2015

Objective: Statistics about cancer survivorship are inexistent for the Puerto Rican population. With this study we intend to address the first objective of the Puerto Rico Cancer Control Plan 2008-2012 of increasing the knowledge and awareness of survivorship among the Puerto Rican community. Thus, this study aimed to estimate the number of cancer survivors living with a history of a primary malignant tumor in Puerto Rico (PR) as of January 1, 2011, through a secondary data analysis of the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry and assess cancer survivorship prevalence of the five most incident cancers in Puerto Rico (breast, prostate, colon and rectum, lung and bronchus, and thyroid).

Methods: The study population consisted of people in Puerto Rico living with a cancer diagnosis as of January 1, 2011, as documented in the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry. We calculated the limited-duration prevalence, which represents the proportion of people alive on a certain day that had a diagnosis of the disease, within 5 years (2005-2010) and with 23 years (1987-2010). Using the limited duration prevalence statistics from 1987-2011, we also calculated the complete prevalence, which represents the proportion of people alive on a certain day that previously had a diagnosis of the disease, regardless of how long ago the diagnosis was made. The limited-duration prevalence statistics were calculated using the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Stat software and were later imported to SEER's Complete Prevalence (ComPrev) software to calculate the complete prevalence. Statistics were calculated overall and by sex, age, period of diagnosis and cancer type.

Results: For the complete prevalence, we estimated that 61,928 people in Puerto Rico were living with cancer as of January 1, 2011. Of these, 30,108 are men, 31,820 were women and 37,520 were over 65 years of age or older. For the limited-duration prevalence (2005-2010), we estimated that there were 29,057 cancer survivors in Puerto Rico: 16,131 were men, 12,926 were women and 15,922 were over 65 years of age or older. Results show that the prevalence of cancer survivors in Puerto Rico is higher for prostate (n=18,874) and breast cancer (n=13,736), followed by colorectal cancer (n=7,431), lung and bronchus (n=5,115) and thyroid (n=775) cancer. The prevalence of colon and rectum cancer was similar in both genders (n=3,443 were men and n=3,321 were women). However, the prevalence of lung and bronchus cancer was higher in men (n=403 men vs. n=310 women) and the prevalence of thyroid cancer was higher in females (n=3,367 women vs. n=627 men).

Discussion: Similar to the US, most cancer survivors in PR are breast and prostate cancer survivors, as well as persons aged 65 years of age or older. Nonetheless, the proportion of cancer survivors in Puerto Rico (1.6%) is smaller when compared to the US population (4.4%). The findings in this report have important implications for public health practice. As cancer survivorship issues are being recognized, it is our goal to support public health's efforts of improving the lives of cancer survivors, by increasing knowledge on survivorship in the Puerto Rican community. Cancer survivors have particular needs that should be addressed by the public health system. Information generated by this study is important for the development of research, outreach and intervention priorities in this population.

Citation Format: Ana Patricia Ortiz-Martinez, Aixa M. Perez-Caraballo, Keyla Gonzalez-Lorenzo, Coral Cotto-Negron, Hilmaris Centeno, Crisanta Serrano-Collazo, Mitchelle Flores-Febo, Carlos Torres, Naydi Perez, Karen Ortiz-Ortiz. Cancer survivorship prevalence: Descriptive analysis of cancer survivors in Puerto Rico. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B16. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-B16