Reducing prostate cancer racial disparity: evidence for aggressive early prostate cancer PSA testing of African American men.

BACKGROUND: There is continuing controversy about prostate cancer testing and the recent American Urological Association guidelines. We hypothesize that the reduction and elimination of racial survival disparity among African American men (AAM; high-risk group) compared with European American men (EAM; intermediate-risk group) during the PSA testing era compared with the pre-PSA era strongly supports the use of PSA testing in AAM. METHODS: We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data to investigate relative survival disparities between AAM and EAM. To evaluate pre-PSA testing era, we selected malignant first primary prostate cancer in AAM and EAM, all stages, diagnosed during 1973-1994. To evaluate relative survival disparities in the current PSA testing era, we selected malignant first primary local, regional, and distant stage prostate cancers diagnosed during 1998-2005 to calculate 5-year relative survival rates. RESULTS: Age-adjusted 5-year relative survival of prostate cancer diagnosed during 1973-1994 in the national SEER data revealed significantly shorter survival for AAM compared with EAM (P < 0.0001). The SEER-based survival analysis from 1995 to 2005 indicated no statistical difference in relative survival rates between AAM and EAM by year of diagnosis of local, regional, or distant stage prostate cancer. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the elimination of prostate cancer racial disparity of local, regional, and metastatic prostate cancer relative survival in the current PSA testing era compared with pre-PSA era as an endpoint to test PSA efficacy as a marker for prostate cancer diagnosis is evidence for aggressive testing of AAM. IMPACT: Evidence for screening AAM.

Prostate cancer early detection practices among men with a family history of disease.

OBJECTIVES: Genetic studies of familial prostate cancer, which is often asymptomatic until advanced stages, rely on correct designation of affection status. In this pilot study, we set out to determine the proportion of unaffected men whose families are participating in a study of hereditary prostate cancer who have been tested for prostate cancer with serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurement and digital rectal examination (DRE). METHODS: Participants were identified from the University of Michigan Prostate Cancer Genetics Project, a family-based study of inherited prostate cancer susceptibility. Of the 141 eligible affected and unaffected sons of men with prostate cancer, 124 (88%) completed a mailed questionnaire regarding serum PSA testing and DRE history. RESULTS: Among unaffected men, 95% reported ever having had a PSA test, and 97% ever having had a DRE, with most initial tests occurring between the ages of 40 and 60 years. No significant difference in the mean age at first PSA test or DRE between the affected and unaffected men was observed. Affected men were significantly more likely than unaffected men to have a first PSA level greater than 2.5 ng/mL (P = 0.006), but not greater than 4.0 ng/mL (P = 0.614). CONCLUSIONS: Most men with a family history of prostate cancer are undergoing early detection testing. The differences in early detection testing practices do not appear to account for the difference in affection status among the sons of men with prostate cancer.