Select black men are potential candidates for prostate hemi-ablation based on radical prostatectomy histopathology for intermediate-risk prostate cancer-a multicenter SEARCH cohort study.

IMPORTANCE AND OBJECTIVE: Partial gland ablation (PGA) is increasingly popular as a treatment for men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (IR-PCa) to preserve functional outcomes while controlling their cancer. We aimed to determine the impact of race and clinical characteristics on the risk of upstaging (≥pT2c) and having adverse pathological outcomes including seminal vesicle invasion (SVI), extra prostatic extension (EPE) and lymph node invasion (LNI) at radical prostatectomy (RP) among men with IR disease eligible for PGA with hemi-ablation (HA). DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. SETTING: Multicenter. PARTICIPANTS AND MEASURES: We studied patients diagnosed with unilateral IR-PCa treated with RP between 1988 and 2020 at 9 different Veterans Affairs hospitals within the SEARCH cohort. We analyzed differences in clinicopathological characteristics and outcome variables (odds of ≥pT2c and SVI, EPE and LNI) by race using multivariable logistic regression after adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Among 3127 patients, 33% were African American (AA) men with unilateral IR-PCa undergoing RP. Compared to non-AA men, AA individuals were younger (61 vs. 65 years, p < 0.001), presented with a higher prostate specific antigen (PSA) category (≥10 ng/ml; 34 vs. 26%, p < 0.001), and had a lower clinical stage (p < 0.001). Among the 2,798 (89.5%) with ≥pT2c stage, AA men exhibited higher ≥ pT2c rates (93 vs. 89%, p < 0.001), primarily due to increased pT2c staging (64 vs. 57%), where upstaging beyond pT2 was lower than non-AA men (29 vs. 32%). On multivariable analysis, AA men were found to have higher odds of ≥pT2c (odds ratio [OR]: 1.39 CI, 1.02-1.88, p = 0.04), lower odds of EPE (OR: 0.73 CI, 0.58-0.91, p < 0.01) and no statistically significant associations with LNI (OR: 0.79 CI, 0.42-1.46, p = 0.45) and SVI (OR: 1 CI, 0.74-1.35, p = 0.99) compared to non-AA men. On multivariable analysis, clinical features associated with higher odds of ≥pT2c were pre-operative PSA ≥ 15 (OR = 2.07, P = 0.01) and higher number of positive cores (HPC) on biopsy (OR = 1.36, P < 0.001). Similarly, PSA ≥ 15, Gleason grade ≥3 and HPC on biopsy were associated with higher odds of SVI, EPE and LNI, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In men with IR-PCa undergoing RP, AA men demonstrated an overall higher likelihood of ≥pT2c with lower upstaging beyond pT2, lower likelihood of EPE and no significant difference in likelihood of SVI and LNI compared to non-AA men. These findings support select AA men to be potential candidates for PGA, such as HA. Clinical factors are predictive of higher pathological stage and adverse pathological outcomes at RP and could be considered when selecting candidates for PGA.

Addressing racial disparities in prostate cancer pathology prediction models: external validation and comparison of four models of pathological outcome prediction before radical prostatectomy in the multiethnic SEARCH cohort.

BACKGROUND: Certain widely used pathological outcome prediction models that were developed in tertiary centers tend to overpredict outcomes in the community setting; thus, the Michigan Urological-Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC) model was developed in general urology practice to address this issue. Additionally, the development of these models involved a relatively small proportion of Black men, potentially compromising the accuracy of predictions in this patient group. We tested the validity of the MUSIC and three widely used nomograms to compare their overall and race-stratified predictive performance. METHODS: We extracted data from 4139 (1138 Black) men from the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database of the Veterans Affairs health system. The predictive performance of the MUSIC model was compared to the Memorial-Sloan Kettering (MSK), Briganti-2012, and Partin-2017 models for predicting lymph-node invasion (LNI), extra-prostatic extension (EPE), and seminal vesicle invasion (SVI). RESULTS: The median PSA of Black men was higher than White men (7.8 vs. 6.8 ng/ml), although they were younger by a median of three years and presented at a lower-stage disease. MUSIC model showed comparable discriminatory capacity (AUC:77.0%) compared to MSK (79.2%), Partin-2017 (74.6%), and Briganti-2012 (76.3%), with better calibration for LNI. AUCs for EPE and SVI were 72.7% and 76.9%, respectively, all comparable to the MSK and Partin models. LNI AUCs for Black and White men were 69.6% and 79.6%, respectively, while EPE and SVI AUCs were comparable between races. EPE and LNI had worse calibration in Black men. Decision curve analysis showed MUSIC superiority over the MSK model in predicting LNI, especially among Black men. CONCLUSION: Although the discriminatory performance of all models was comparable for each outcome, the MUSIC model exhibited superior net benefit to the MSK model in predicting LNI outcomes among Black men in the SEARCH population.

Do Hispanic Puerto Rican men have worse outcomes after radical prostatectomy? Results from SEARCH.

BACKGROUND: We previously reported that outcomes after radical prostatectomy (RP) were similar among non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic White Veterans Affairs (VA) patients. However, prostate cancer (PC) mortality in Puerto Rican Hispanics (PRH) may be higher than in other Hispanic groups. Data focused on PRH patients is sparse; thus, we tested the association between PR ethnicity and outcomes after RP. METHODS: Analysis included men in SEARCH cohort who underwent RP (1988-2020, n = 8311). PRH patients (n = 642) were treated at the PR VA, and outcomes were compared to patients treated in the Continental US regardless of race. Logistic regression was used to test the associations between PRH and PC aggressiveness, adjusting for demographic and clinicopathological features. Multivariable Cox models were used to investigate PRH versus Continental differences in biochemical recurrence (BCR), metastases, castration-resistant PC (CRPC), and PC-specific mortality (PCSM). RESULTS: Compared to Continental patients, PRH patients had lower adjusted odds of pathological grade group ≥2 (p < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001), and positive margins (p < 0.001). In contrast, PRH patients had higher odds of extracapsular extension (p < 0.001). In Cox models, PRH patients had a higher risk for BCR (HR = 1.27, p < 0.001), metastases (HR = 1.49, p = 0.014), CRPC (HR = 1.80, p = 0.001), and PCSM (HR = 1.74, p = 0.011). Further adjustment for extracapsular extension and other pathological variables strengthened these findings. CONCLUSIONS: In an equal access setting, PRH RP patients generally had better pathological features, but despite this, they had significantly worse post-treatment outcomes than men from the Continental US, regardless of race. The reasons for the poorer prognosis among PRH men require further research.

High serum folate is associated with reduced biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy: Results from the SEARCH Database

Introduction To analyze the association between serum levels of folate and risk of biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy among men from the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database. Materials and Methods Retrospective analysis of 135 subjects from the SEARCH database treated between 1991-2009 with available preoperative serum folate levels. Patients' characteristics at the time of the surgery were analyzed with ranksum and linear regression. Uni- and multivariable analyses of folate levels (log-transformed) and time to biochemical recurrence were performed with Cox proportional hazards. Results The median preoperative folate level was 11.6ng/mL (reference = 1.5-20.0ng/mL). Folate levels were significantly lower among African-American men than Caucasians (P = 0.003). In univariable analysis, higher folate levels were associated with more recent year of surgery (P < 0.001) and lower preoperative PSA (P = 0.003). In univariable analysis, there was a trend towards lower risk of biochemical recurrence among men with high folate levels (HR = 0.61, 95%CI = 0.37-1.03, P = 0.064). After adjustments for patients characteristics' and pre- and post-operative clinical and pathological findings, higher serum levels of folate were independently associated with lower risk for biochemical recurrence (HR = 0.42, 95%CI = 0.20-0.89, P = 0.023). Conclusion In a cohort of men undergoing radical prostatectomy at several VAs across the country, higher serum folate levels were associated with lower PSA and lower risk for biochemical failure. While the source of the folate in the serum in this study is unknown (i.e. diet vs. supplement), these findings, if confirmed, suggest a potential role of folic acid supplementation or increased consumption of folate rich foods to reduce the risk of recurrence. .