prostate-report.org

Ethnicity and first-line treatment for localized prostate cancer

Previous reports have revealed a trend of differing modalities of treatment chosen by African American and white men. As men diagnosed with prostate cancer have multiple options available for treatment a recent sientific team investigated the role of ethnicity in primary treatment choice and how this affected overall and cancer-specific mortality.

Researchers have used the CaPSURE database to offer further data supporting the fact that, in the USA, African-American men are more likely than Caucasians to receive first-line treatment with radiation and/or androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) than surgery. The most striking fact in this study is that African Americans with low-risk disease were 71 percent more likely to receive ADT than white males with similar disease — and there is minimal evidence to support this use of ADT. The reasons for this difference are probably complex. What is clear is that research on the influence of patient/physician education and perception and the role that socioeconomic factors play in the treatment of prostate cancer may be useful areas of focus for public health initiatives.