Study Finds Health Disparities in Black Men With Prostate Cancer

A systematic review observed that health disparities persist for Black men with prostate cancer and sought to determine the root of these disparities as well as potential solutions. The study authors concluded that shared decision-making is required both in diagnosis and screening, stating this would help to address population-level health outcomes.

“The systematic review argues that oncologists will need to integrate population-based interventions capable of presenting strong empirical evidence about which determinants contribute to health disparities among African American men diagnosed with prostate cancer,” they wrote.

The review consisted of primary and secondary sources collected from articles identified in Google Scholar and PubMed searches using keywords including “African American men,” “prostate cancer,” “determinants,” “disparities,” and “interventions.” Studies that were published from 2013 to the present, focused on Black men diagnosed with prostate cancer, were randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials, and include evidence-based interventions used by oncologists were eligible for inclusion.

Twenty studies made it into the final review. The articles that were reviewed “provide evidence that oncologists will need to play more central roles in preventing premature death when African American men who present a higher risk of prostate cancer compared to their White and Hispanic/Latino counterparts,” according to the study authors. They also said that shared decision-making in both screening and diagnosis are required to address population-level health outcomes.

The study was published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

Previous Research on Prostate Cancer in Black Men, Other Racial Disparities

A prior study found that active surveillance was safe for Black men, despite their higher risk for more aggressive disease.

And, according to a separate study, Black patients have considerably less access to investigational PET imaging for prostate cancer. Here, Black patients had increased odds of receiving imaging with ¹⁸F-fluciclovine instead of ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 compared to non-Hispanic White patients. The researchers wrote of the results, “access to ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 for Black patients was limited, compared to non-Hispanic White patients, by a factor of nearly four.”