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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