Anti-Asian American Racism: A Wake-Up Call For Population-Based Cancer Research

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans have been subjected to rising overt discrimination and violent hate crimes, highlighting the health implications of racism toward Asian Americans. As Asian Americans are the only group for whom cancer is the leading cause of death, these manifestations of anti-Asian racism provoke the question of the impact of racism across the cancer continuum for Asian Americans. In this Commentary, we describe how the myth of the "model minority" overlooks the diversity of Asian Americans. Ignoring such diversity in sociocultural trends, immigration patterns, socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and barriers to care masks disparities in cancer risk, access to care, and outcomes across Asian American populations. We recommend cancer epidemiologists, population science researchers, and oncology providers direct attention toward: (i) studying the impacts of structural and personally mediated racism on cancer risk and outcomes; (ii) ensuring studies reflect the uniqueness of individual ethnic groups, including intersectionality, and uncover underlying disparities; and (iii) applying a critical race theory approach that considers the unique lived experiences of each group. A more nuanced understanding of cancer health disparities, and how drivers of these disparities are associated with race and differ across Asian American ethnicities, may elucidate means through which these disparities can be alleviated.