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Page 8 The Skanner June 6, 2018 News Given Equal Access to Treatment, Black Men With Prostate Cancer Fare at Least as Well As Whites — Sometimes Better By Lindsey Tanner AP Medical Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Black men with advanced pros- tate cancer fared sur- prisingly well in two new studies that challenge current thinking about racial disparities in the disease. Blacks are more likely to get prostate cancer and to die from it than Whites, but the new research suggests get- ting access to the same treatment may help bal- ance the odds — even if it doesn’t greatly extend life after cancer has spread. Given the same standard treatments, Blacks with advanced disease may do even better than Whites, the studies suggest. Both were presented Friday at an American Society of Clinical Oncol- ogy meeting in Chicago. The lead author of one study, Susan Halabi of Duke University, said the results “are contrary to the mainstream un- derstanding” that Blacks fare worse than Whites with prostate cancer. She said the analysis high- lights the importance of minorities participating in medical studies. Her report pooled re- sults from nine stud- ies in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and focused on the more than 7,000 Whites and 500 Blacks with advanced prostate cancer who had stopped responding to hormone therapy. Patients’ aver- age age was 69 and most had cancer that had spread to their bones. The men were all treat- ed with standard chemo- therapy. “ I had top- notch awareness and the awareness overrode the reluc- tance to do something The analysis found that Black men fared at least as well as Whites, with both groups sur- viving almost two years after starting treatment. But researchers found a slight survival ad- vantage for Black men — they were about 20 percent less likely than whites to die — when tak- ing into account patients’ individual character- istics including tumor type and levels of PSA, a blood protein that can be elevated in cancer. That Blacks may do even better underscores the need to dig deeper to find out why, said Hal- abi. It’s possible Black men who enroll in pros- tate cancer studies are healthier than other pa- tients or they might have biological differences that make them respond better to treatment, she said. The results suggest that access to care is key, said Dr. Richard Schil- sky, the society’s chief medical officer. If men are diagnosed later and not treated as quickly or as well, “of course the outcomes are going to be worse,” he said. A separate, smaller study, led by Duke’s Dr. Daniel George, com- pared the prostate can- cer drug Zytiga with prednisone in 50 Blacks and 50 Whites whose cancer had spread. The drug stopped cancer from spreading further for about 17 months on average in both groups. But declines in PSA lev- els, considered a prom- ising sign, were greater in Black men. Blacks also had different side effects — less high blood pressure but more trou- ble with low potassium levels. Janssen Pharma- ceuticals, Zytiga’s maker, paid for the study but was not involved in the research. Genetic testing in the study found racial dif- ferences that might make AP PHOTO/CHRIS CARLSON Results of two new studies presented last week come as a surprise to some cancer researchers Westley Sholes, 78, a retired health care manager poses for a picture at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Results from his first prostate cancer scan were suspicious and the second done three months later detected early cancer. That was 20 years ago; Sholes had surgery and is doing well. blacks respond better to Zytiga than whites, and the results suggest that the drug might have greater benefit if start- ed earlier, before cancer has spread, George said. Dr. Robert Dreicer, an expert for the cancer group and University of Virginia cancer spe- cialist, called the results thought-provoking and said additional research on genetic differences might lead to new, more effective treatments for black men. Dr. Adam Murphy, a Northwestern Universi- A career you can be proud of. ty physician who stud- ies racial disparities in prostate cancer, said some reasons for low black enrollment in stud- ies include poor overall health, money and mis- trust of the medical es- tablishment. “We just need more pa- tients enrolled,” Murphy said. Denial also leads some men to delay seeking any kind of treatment, but Westley Sholes, 78, a retired health care man- ager in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, said he decided to be proac- tive after his father was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Sholes says he asked his doctor to do repeat scans. Results from the first were suspicious and the second done three months later detected early cancer. That was 20 years ago; Sholes had surgery and is doing well. He credits good health insurance, excellent treatment and educating himself about the dis- ease. “Of course I was scared,” Sholes said. “I had top-notch awareness and the awareness over- rode the reluctance to do something.” AP Chief Medical Writ- er Marilynn Marchione contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health & Science Depart- ment receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s De- partment of Science Ed- ucation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. 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