While black men are often diagnosed with prostate cancer at a younger age and with a higher grade of disease, previously studies have shown that when adjusted for age and tumor grade, there is no racial difference in survival or recurrence rates.
Racial disparity in treatment improved among Hispanic men from 1992 to 1999, the researchers found. Hispanic men with prostate cancer were less likely than Caucasian men to receive definitive therapy in 1992, but by 1999 that difference was not statistically significant. For African-American men, however, that discrepancy persisted from 1992 to 1999. Throughout the study period, black men had the lowest odds of receiving definitive treatment.
"Studies of Hispanic men are highly relevant as they are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the country, and this is the first time such data have been presented for this group. While we observed that the disparity between Hispanic and non-Hispanic groups have narrowed, there were still significant differences by race. For example, Hispanics were more likely to undergo surgery than were Caucasian or African-American men," says senior study author John Wei, M.D., an assistant professor of urology in the U-M Medical School.
The Hispanic population saw a 75 percent increase in prostate cancer diagnoses from 1969 to 1991. While prostate cancer mortality rates among white men have decreased in recent years, the numbers of deaths from the disease have held steady for Hispanics.
About 220,900 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003.
In addition to Underwood and Wei, study authors are Sonya Demonner, a biostatistician at U-M; Peter Ubel, M.D., associate pro
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Contact: Nicole Fawcett
nfawcett@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
29-Mar-2004