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Black men in the UK twice as likely to receive prostate cancer diagnosis
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Black men in the U.K. faced twice the risk for being diagnosed with and dying from prostate cancer compared with white men, according to study results.
However, white, black and Asian men faced a similar likelihood for death from prostate cancer following a diagnosis regardless of ethnicity, the researchers noted.
“We already knew that black men were more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than white men,” Alison Cooper, senior research analyst of Prostate Cancer U.K.’s Evidence Team, said in a press release. “However, the data we had were fast becoming out of date.”
Cooper and colleagues evaluated 2008 to 2010 incidence and mortality data from Public Health England to calculate the lifetime risk for prostate cancer among ethnic white, black and Asian men in the U.K. They used mortality data from The Office of National Statistics; however, these data do not include ethnicity, which is not recorded on U.K. death certificates.
Researchers estimated white men comprised 87% of the average male population, Asian men comprised 7% of the population and black men comprised 3% of the population.
A total of 102,252 prostate cancer diagnoses and 26,521 prostate cancer deaths occurred in the cohort.
Overall, men in the U.K. face an overall lifetime risk for prostate cancer diagnosis of one in eight (13.4%; 95% CI, 13.3-13.5) and a lifetime risk for death from prostate cancer of one in 24 (4.3%; 95% CI, 4.2-4.3).
Stratified by ethnic group, black men faced a one in four lifetime risk for a prostate cancer diagnosis (29.3%; 95% CI, 23.5-37.2), whereas white men had a one in eight lifetime risk (13.3%, 95% CI, 13.2-15) and Asian men faced a lifetime risk of one in 13 (7.9%, 95% CI, 6.3-10.5).
Researchers calculated lifetime risks for death from prostate cancer of one in 12 among black men (8.7%; 95% CI, 7.6-10.6), one in 24 among white men (4.2%; 95% CI, 4.2-4.7) and one in 44 among Asian men (2.3%; 95% CI, 1.9-3).
When comparing the lifetime risk for dying from prostate cancer with the risk for receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis, the ratios were very similar and close to one-third in each ethnic group.
“This shows that once a man has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, he has a one-third chance of dying from the disease, independent of his ethnicity,” Cooper and colleagues wrote. “This could be interpreted as an indication that the disease is no more aggressive in any one ethnic group and/or that there is no bias in detection or treatment between ethnic groups. Nonetheless, proportionally more black men are dying from prostate cancer in England.”
The researchers acknowledged the lack of complete ethnicity data and the self-reported nature of the available ethnicity data as limitations to these findings. Further, the study did not specifically account for men of mixed ethnicities.
“The study provides important absolute risk figures to help black men better understand their risk for developing prostate cancer,” Cooper said. “These figures can be used for targeted awareness-raising and to help them make an informed decision about whether or not to have a PSA test.” – by Cameron Kelsall
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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