Blacks fare well in prostate cancer research, 2 studies find

Black men with advanced prostate cancer fared surprisingly 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 getting access to the same treatment may help balance the odds — even if it doesn’t greatly extend life after can- cer 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 Oncology meeting in Chicago.

The lead author of one study, Susan Halabi of Duke University, said the analysis highlights the importance of minorities participating in medical studies.

Her report pooled results from nine studies 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.

The analysis found that black men fared at least as well as whites, with both groups surviving almost two years after starting treatment. But researchers found a slight survival advantage for black Sholes men when taking into account patients’ individual characteristics including tumor type and levels of PSA, a blood protein that can be elevated in cancer.

A separate, smaller study, led by Duke’s Dr. Daniel George, compared the prostate cancer drug Zytiga with prednisone in 50 blacks and 50 whites whose cancer had spread. The drug stopped cancer from spreading fur- ther for about 17 months on average in both groups.

But declines in PSA levels, considered a promising sign, were greater in black men.

Genetic testing in the study found racial differences that might make blacks respond better to Zytiga than whites, and the results suggest that the drug might have greater benefit if started earlier, George said.

Denial leads some men to delay seeking any kind of treatment, but Westley Sholes, 78, a retired health care manager in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., said he decided to be proactive after his father was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

A scan detected early cancer 20 years ago. He had surgery and is doing well. He credits good health insurance, excellent treatment and educating himself about the disease.

“Of course I was scared,” he said. “I had top-notch awareness and the awareness overrode the reluctance to do something.”