Men of African origin are disproportionately affected by prostate cancer. You can read more Malecare’s African American men and Prostate Cancer website, Twice As Many http://twiceasmany.org
Three specific statistics tell the story.
1- In the United States, the incidence of prostate cancer is highest among men of African origin.
2- Prostate cancer mortality is highest among men of African origin who are in the Caribbean
3- Men of African origin living in sub-Saharan Africa, when diagnosed, have the highest tumor stage and grade of prostate cancer.
Socioeconomic, educational, cultural, and genetic factors, as well as variations in care delivery and treatment probably make a contribution to these cancer disparities.
Adding to the understanding of genetic differences underlying prostate cancer are emerging data on single-nucleotide-polymorphism patterns, epigenetic changes, and variations in fusion-gene products among men of African origin.
When first diagnosed and when all treatment options are available, men of African origin tend to favor radiation therapy over surgery or to decline any treatment than do Caucasian men.
In the case of those men of African origin who do elect surgery, they have a higher rate of biochemical recurrence over their Caucasian counterparts.
It is very important to understand these differences in the cancer survivorship experience and quality-of-life outcomes. We need to acknowledge these disparities and become more culturally sensitive in our treatment efforts as well as our screening policies. The recent direction of prostate cancer screening, which has unfortunately been color blind, is very likely to affect men of African origin disproportionately and widen the racial disparity of the cancer.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26718455
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