Abstract PO-004: Hot Spot Analysis of Cervical Cancer among Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Los Angeles County

Abstract Background: Geospatial analysis of cervical cancer cases traditionally combines all racial and ethnic subgroups when examining patterns of disease distribution. Given the diverse populations of Los Angeles County (LAC), there are likely distinct barriers as well as linguistic needs of cancer preventive care unique to high risk populations. We compared the distribution of clusters of cervical cancer disease for Latinas, African Americans, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders (AAPI), the three largest racial/ethnic minority groups in LAC. Methods: We included data for all stages of cervical cancer (only malignant tumors) diagnosed from 2000 to 2018 in LAC separately for Latinas, African Americans, and AAPI from the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance Program. Hot spot analyses were performed using the Getis-Ord GI*statistic in ArcGIS to compare the distribution of statistically significant clusters of cervical cancer cases in LAC using a fixed band. Hot and cold spots with less than 11 cases were suppressed to protect patient confidentiality. Results: Results show that the pattern of cervical cancer clustering across racial/ethnic categories varies substantially across LAC. Among Latinas (N=4303), data show hot spots in Central and Eastern Los Angeles as well as the San Fernando Valley; hot spots exist in Hollywood, Mid-City, the South Bay, the San Gabriel foothills, and the Eastern suburbs of Los Angeles for Asians/Pacific Islanders (N=1332); and hot spots emerged in Central and South Los Angeles, Long Beach and Alhambra for African Americans (N=770). Cervical cancer hot spots do not fully coincide with the residential distribution of racial/ethnic groups in LAC based on data from the 5-year American Community Survey (2014-2018), particularly among Latinas. Discussion: Given the marked differences in cervical cancer disease clustering across racial and ethnic populations in LAC, hot spot analyses of these groups should be performed separately. Using appropriate methodologies for modeling the geospatial distribution of cervical cancer has important implications for the effective planning, location, and delivery of culturally and linguistically appropriate vaccination and screening interventions to address the diverse cervical cancer prevention needs of different communities in LAC. Citation Format: Bibiana M. Martinez, Laura Thompson, Myles Cockburn, Jennifer Tsui. Hot spot analysis of cervical cancer among racial and ethnic minorities in Los Angeles County [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: 14th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2021 Oct 6-8. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-004.