Both black and white men with prostate cancer show decreased risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) due to PSA screening, according to a study published online by JAMA Oncology.
Michael V. Sherer, MD, and colleagues, conducted a retrospective cohort study to assess whether PSA screening is associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) among non-Hispanic Black men. The study involved 45 834 US veterans aged 55 to 69 who self-identified as non-Hispanic Black (31%) or non-Hispanic White (69%). The participants in this study were diagnosed with intermediate to very high–risk prostate cancer from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2017.
The patients were split into 3 categories to assess the risk of PCSM: Those with no prior PSA screening, those with some screening (less than annual), and those with annual screening in the 5 years before diagnosis.
According to the study, The PSA screening rate was associated with a lower risk of PCSM among Black men (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR], 0.56; 95% CI, 0.41-0.76; P = .001) and White men (sHR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.46-0.75; P = .001). According to the authors, this finding suggests that “PSA screening is at least as beneficial for Black men as it is for White men.”
The study also found that annual screening was associated with a reduced risk of PCSM among Black men compared with less frequent screening. In white men, there was no reduction in risk with annual screening, suggesting that annual screening may be particularly important for Black men.
“Annual screening was associated with reduced PCSM risk among Black men but not among White men, suggesting that more intensive screening protocols may benefit Black patients. Further research is needed to identify appropriate protocols to maximize the benefits of PSA screening”, the authors said in the report.
Source: JAMA ONCOLOGY
