Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a serious source of morbidity and mortality within the US, with an estimated 53,000 deaths in 2011. Previous studies have shown that adenoma prevalence is higher in African-American patients as compared to whites, with greater risk for multiple, more proximal, advanced neoplasia and better mortality rates overall. These findings have influenced guidelines for screening colonoscopy; In 2010, the AGA recommended that African-American patients be screened at 45 vs. 50. As multicultural groups still grow and acculturate, how we view colorectal cancer in each ethnic and racial group must change and grow also . Little research has been done on the characteristics of adenomas seen in Hispanic patients, one among the main ethnic groups served at Lutheran Health Care, an outsized community hospital in Brooklyn, New York. Our study aimed to both establish trends in polyp presentation within this group, and to deal with new findings while affirming previous studies showing the necessity for further, race-specific data collection when establishing guidelines. Our goal was to also establish trends in polyp presentation and address whether or not Hispanic patients served in our urban hospital were at high or low risk for transformation to colorectal cancer supported these trends.

Helicobacter pylori infection and histologic gastritis in 58 asymptomatic Hispanic adult volunteers (mean age, 41 years; 59% male) by endoscopic biopsy of the upper alimentary canal . Forty-six subjects (79%) were found to harbor H. pylori in gastric biopsies, and every one had histologic gastritis. Four other subjects were found to possess gastritis within the absence of H. pylori. Similar prevalences of H. pylori and gastritis were noted altogether age groups and also in American-born and immigrant Hispanics. Biopsy data and serologic studies of H. pylori antibodies correlated well. We conclude that H. pylori infection is an almost universal finding within the gastric mucosa of asymptomatic adult Hispanics, no matter age. The clinical significance of those findings is unknown, but we speculate that H. pylori and its associated gastritis could have a task within the high incidence of gastric carcinoma in Hispanic populations.