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Black men with slow-growing prostate cancer less likely to be treated with active surveillance

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.

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