In the largest study so far of military veterans with prostate cancer, Black men were twice as likely to be diagnosed with the cancer but had an 11 percent lower risk of the cancer spreading if they were received timely and appropriate treatment. While there was no difference between White and Black men in the chances of the cancer spreading after surgery to remove the prostate, Blacks were less likely to experience cancer spread after radiation therapy.
“The Veterans Administration provides high-quality care to veterans regardless of race, sex, geographic location or economic circumstance, thereby creating an equal access system compared to other large health care systems. This provides us with a unique environment to investigate prostate cancer health disparities across the disease continuum, such as treatment response or overall outcomes at each phase of the disease,” said Kosj Yamoah, MD, a radiologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida.
- See “VA Health System Offers Level Playing Field to Study Prostate Cancer Disparities” by Kim Polacek on the Moffitt Cancer Center website (January 18, 2022)
- see the full text of the scientific paper “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Prostate Cancer Outcomes in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System” by Kosj Yamoah et al
