BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - The purpose of this study was to investigate oncologic outcomes in younger men who have undergone radical prostatectomy. In selecting a younger cohort, we sought to determine the impact of diagnosis at an earlier stage. It is well known that treatment for screen detected, localized disease typically results in favorable outcomes, but controversy exists regarding the optimal type of treatment received and biological behavior of prostate cancer in African-American men. We show that young men with organ-confined disease receiving RP have similar outcomes, regardless of race. However, African-American men with non-organ confined disease have somewhat higher rates of disease recurrence.
The main conclusion is that African-American men can enjoy similar cancer outcomes to Caucasian men if they are diagnosed with organ-confined disease (which is most likely in a screened population) and receive definitive surgical treatment. Clearly, Memorial Sloan-Kettering is a unique environment, but similar analysis from other centers of excellence is likely to demonstrate a similar trend.
Written by:
Kelvin Alexander Moses, MD, PhD as part of Beyond the Abstract on UroToday.com. This initiative offers a method of publishing for the professional urology community. Authors are given an opportunity to expand on the circumstances, limitations etc... of their research by referencing the published abstract.
Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY USA