Cancer mortality among north African migrants in France

Data on cancer mortality in North African migrants to France (the largest foreign-born community in the country) are presented, providing useful insights both into cancer patterns in North Africa and their changes following migration.

The cancer mortality in migrants from North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt) resident in France relative to that of the local-born population, is estimated from mortality data for the period 1979-1985, and population data from the 1982 French census. Risks of death from different cancers were adjusted for important confounding factors such as social status and area of residence.

The risks are quite similar for Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan migrants. Compared to the local-born, those Maghrebian migrants of one or both sexes have higher risks of death from cancer of the nasopharynx, gallbladder and bladder (in Algerians only). Conversely, Maghrebian migrants have lower risks of death from cancer of the oral cavity, other pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, lung, larynx, melanoma (in Algerians only), kidney and nervous system (except in Tunisians), breast, ovary, and cervix uteri (except in Moroccans). For Egyptian migrants, because of small numbers, few of the estimates are statistically significant. They are at lower risk of death from lung cancer and at higher risk for lymphoma and leukaemia.

The findings provide confirmatory evidence of the unusual cancer patterns among North African populations, who have low risks for most cancer sites, and high risks for certain cancers, such as of the nasopharynx and bladder.