Black men with slow-growing prostate cancer were less likely than White men to undergo active surveillance, according to a study of U.S. cases in 2014-2015. In those years, 42 percent of Black patients were treated with active surveillance, compared with 55 percent of White men. Studies find that men with low-risk prostate cancer and under active surveillance after diagnosis have remarkably low rates of their disease spreading or killing them.
“It is unclear if the lack of treatment and surveillance was consistent with their preferences or reflects a lack of comfort seeking medical care, inadequate communication by clinicians, or transportation difficulties,” researchers said.
- See “Large Rise in Prostate Cancer Active Surveillance Documented” by Jody A. Charnow on the Renal and Urology News website (December 18, 2020)
- See the abstract of the scientific paper “Trends in the use of active surveillance and treatments in Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with localized prostate cancer” by Yu Liu et al.
