Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer remains the most common cancer in American men. African-American men continue to have higher prostate cancer prevalence and mortality rates compared to men in other populations. African-American men are 40 percent more likely to have prostate cancer and twice as likely as white men to die of the disease. In 1993, African-American Medicare beneficiaries were almost 2.5  times as likely their white counterparts to have a bi-lateral orchiectomy (surgery to remove the testicles) to treat prostate cancer.

Between 1996-2003, the five-year relative survival rate for black men diagnosed with prostate cancer was nearly 95 percent compared to almost 99 percent for white men.

The factors that influence prostate cancer health disparities are still not well understood. Age is the most important risk factor for contracting prostate cancer. Others are race, family history, and environment. Environmental factors likely account for the prostate cancers found in men with no family history, including geographic location, a high-fat diet, high caloric intake, and a sedentary lifestyle.