Cancer rates vary widely among Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, according to a report released Thursday.

The lung cancer rate in Samoan men, at 98.9 per 100,000 population, is 30 percent higher than the rate for Hawaiians (72.1) and non-Hispanic whites (71.2) and almost 80 percent higher than in Asian Indian/Pakistani men (21.1) because of differences in smoking, the report said. The rate for Laotian men was 65.2.

For liver cancer, rates in Laotian men (66.1 per 100,000) and Vietnamese men (51.9) are two to four times higher than those in Chinese (21.7), Koreans (26) and Filipinos (16.7), and almost 10 times higher than Asian Indians and Pakistanis (6.5), the study found.

The report, which appears in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, estimates there will be 57,740 new cancer cases and 16,910 cancer deaths among Asia-Pacific ethnicities in 2016. The three leading causes of cancer death among males in these groups are lung (27 percent), liver (14 percent) and colon/rectum (11 percent). Among women, they are lung (21 percent), breast (14 percent) and colon/rectum (11 percent).

The variations “are related to risk factors, including lifestyle factors, use of screening and preventive services, and exposure to cancer-causing infections,” said Lindsey Torre, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society and co-author of the report, in a statement. “Cancer-control strategies among this population include improved use of vaccination and screening; interventions to increase physical activity and reduce excess body weight, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption; and research to get a more detailed understanding of differences in the cancer burden and risk factors between subgroups.”

The new report relies on data from the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and the National Center for Health Statistics.

Key findings:

>> Among males, overall incidence rates (per 100,000 during 2006 to 2010) range from 216.8 among Asian Indians/Pakistanis to 526.5 among Samoans, whose rates are similar to rates in non-Hispanic whites (554.1). Among females, rates range from 212.0 among Asian Indians/Pakistanis to 442.8 among Samoans, also similar to rates in non-Hispanic whites (444.6).

>> Age-standardized breast cancer incidence rates in Asia-Pacific ethnicities range from 35 per 100,000 in Cambodian women to 135.9 in Hawaiian women, likely reflecting differences in reproductive patterns, as well as mammography utilization.

>> Cancer death rates among Asia-Pacific ethnicities have been decreasing since 1992, mirroring trends in non-Hispanic whites.

>> Breast cancer mortality rates decreased by 16 percent among Asia-Pacific women from 1990 to 2012. These reductions have been attributed to improvements in both treatment and early detection.

>> Liver cancer death rates declined among Asia-Pacific males from 2003 to 2012 and were stable among Asia-Pacific females, in contrast to dramatic increases in non-Hispanic whites.

>> Utilization of the Pap test within the last three years is highest among Filipino women (83 percent, the same rate as in non-Hispanic whites) and lowest among Chinese women (66 percent).

For study purposes, the term Asian refers to a person with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia or the Indian subcontinent. This group includes, but is not limited to, Asian Indians, Cambodians, Chinese, Filipinos, Hmong, Japanese, Koreans, Pakistanis and Vietnamese.