African American men respond better to treatments for advanced prostate cancer in clinical trials

Racial differences have long been evident in prostate cancer statistics. In particular, African American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer more often than white men, and they’re also nearly twice as likely to die of the disease. But new research also shows that African American men who receive the most advanced treatments for late-stage prostate cancer can live at least as long — or even longer — than their Caucasian counterparts. Why is this the case? Scientists are searching for an explanation. “The fact that African American men have better survival is of huge research interest,” said Dr. Stephen Freedland, a urologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “If we can figure this out, we’ll obtain key insights into the factors driving survival in late-stage prostate cancer. And that in turn will help spur better treatments for all men — regardless of race.” Each year, about 160 per 100,000 African American men receive a prostate cancer diagnosis. That’s three times higher than the comparable figure for white American men, and it’s also higher than the number of black men diagnosed annually with prostate cancer in Africa. It’s possible that dietary or environmental factors — perhaps in combination with genetic susceptibilities — put African American men at greater risk in the United States. But African American men also tend to have less access to health care than white Americans, and many of them are diagnosed after their tumors hav...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Living With Prostate Cancer Men's Health Prostate Health Prostate Knowledge Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs