Cancer mortality in Italian migrants and their offspring in Canada.

Studies on the offspring of migrants provide important information on the contribution of environmental and genetic factors in the etiology of various cancers. The aim of the present study is to analyze the cancer risk in Italian-migrants (Canadian residents born in Italy) and their offspring compared with the host population. Odds ratios (OR) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CI) by site and birthplace categories (migrants, pure and mixed Italian-parentage Canadians) were calculated by means of a case-control study using the 'other cancer deaths' as controls and taking the host population as the reference category.

Cancer mortality in Italian migrants to Canada.

The present study reports on the analysis of cancer mortality in Italian first-generation migrants resident in Canada, deceased in the period between 1964-1985 (5,801 males: 3,267 females). Mortality in migrants is compared to that of the host population as well as to that in the migrants' country of origin. This is carried out both on a national level (Italy), and on a regional level with those regions that have made the greatest contribution to the Italian migratory flow (Southern Italy).