Tissue microarray assessment of prostate cancer tumor proliferation in African- American and white men.

Abstract

Prostate cancer is a major health-care problem for African-American men. The age-adjusted incidence of prostate carcinoma in African-American men is approximately 50% greater than in white men. Furthermore, studies (1–3) have consistently demonstrated that the mortality rate from prostate cancer is significantly greater in African-American men than in white men. This fact remains true, even after adjustment for stage at presentation (2). Some researchers have speculated that variable access to health care may substantively contribute to the disparate prostate cancer survival between racial groups. Robbins et al. (3) recently reported on survival from prostate carcinoma in participants in a large health-care maintenance organization in which one would assume that prostate carcinoma was detected and treated similarly in all races. In that study, the death rate from prostate cancer was higher in African-American men than in white men after adjustment for age and stage. These epidemiologic observations have led to the hypothesis that prostate carcinoma in African-American men is more biologically aggressive than in white men.