Autopsy incidence of diseases among Southwestern American Indians.

An autopsy study of 328 American Indians from southwestern tribes, representing about one fifth of all southwestern Indian deaths over a five-year period showed that there was no decrease in incidence of cancer among this group. The gallbladder and biliary tree was the most frequent primary site of malignancy and its incidence was more than six times that of the general population. Carcinoma of the stomach, colon, and lung fell below the incidence expected in the general population. The incidence of colelithiasis among southwestern Indians in both males and females was almost twice that of the white population. The prominence of diabetes mellitus, congenital malformations, active tuberculosis, and portal cirrhosis in southwestern Indians suggests that there are genetic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors in this population which differ from those of the general population.