Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Tumor Characteristics and Treatments in Favorable and Unfavorable Intermediate Risk Prostate Cancer

PURPOSE: We hypothesized that differences in active treatment rates may exist according to race/ethnicity in favorable as well as unfavorable intermediate risk prostate cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We relied on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 database 2010-2015. We stratified according to 3 racial/ethnic groups (White vs Black vs Hispanic) and prostate cancer baseline characteristics (prostate specific antigen, clinical T stage, Gleason group grading, percentage of biopsy cores). We tabulated active treatment rates (radical prostatectomy, external beam radiotherapy) without and with adjustment for baseline age and prostate cancer characteristics.

RESULTS: Baseline prostate specific antigen, clinical T stage, Gleason grade and percentage of positive biopsy cores differed according to racial/ethnic groups in both favorable and unfavorable intermediate risk prostate cancer patients (all p <0.05). Similarly, radical prostatectomy and external beam radiotherapy rates differed according to race/ethnicity in both favorable and unfavorable intermediate risk prostate cancer patients. Radical prostatectomy and external beam radiotherapy rates respectively ranged from 31.7%-41.8% and 26.3%-31.0% in favorable intermediate risk cases and from 33.4%-43.9% and 30.9%-35.5% in unfavorable intermediate risk prostate cancer, across the 3 race/ethnicity groups (both p <0.05). The above heterogeneity in active treatment rates disappeared and marginal differences remained after adjustment for baseline age and prostate cancer characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS: Interpretation of active treatment rates in favorable and unfavorable intermediate risk prostate cancer may be severely biased, unless detailed and systematic consideration or adjustment for baseline age and prostate cancer characteristic is enforced.