ACS projects annual incidence, mortality data among African Americans

The American Cancer Society has just released its biannual report entitled Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2011-2012. The report suggests that there will be 35,110 new cases of prostate cancer and 5,300 prostate cancer-specific deaths among the African American community in 2011. This means that 40 percent of all cases of cancer in African American men will be caused by cancer of the prostate.

The age-adjusted incidence of prostate cancer among the African American community for the period 2003 to 2007 was 229.4/100,000 as compared to 143.5/100,000 among whites in the USA. This means that an African American male is now “only” 1.6 times as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as a white male of the same age.

The other good news is that the 5-year survival of African American prostate cancer patients for the period 1999 to 2006 is almost exactly comparable to that for white patients in the US over the same time period. Similarly, the stage distribution at diagnosis for African Americans and whites is also closely comparable for the period from 1999 to 2006.

At the other end of the scale, the prostate cancer-specific mortality rate among African Americans is still 2.4 times the rate for whites. It is likely that this mortality rate reflects the fact that 10 to 15 years ago African Americans were being diagnosed later and with more advanced disease that whites. Now that the stage distribution at diagnosis is similar for whites and African Americans, we can reasonably expect to see the difference in the prostate cancer-specific mortality rate gradually decline over time, but this may still take another 10 to 15 years to balance out.

The bottom line is that being African American is still a significant risk factor for prostate cancer as compared to being white. There are almost certainly genetic factors at play here, but we still haven’t been able to determine the importance of such factors with any real degree of certainty, and other factors such as diet and socioeconomic circumstance are probably part of the mix. It will be important to continue to emphasize the importance of careful monitoring of African American males for prostate cancer risk as they move into their early 40s — especially if there is also a family history of prostate cancer. Having said that, it will be equally important not to over-treat indolent forms of prostate cancer in the African American community.

ACS projects annual incidence, mortality data among African Americans


Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2011-2012