Cedars-Sinai Cancer investigators have found that Black men respond as well as white men to systemic therapies for advanced prostate cancer when access to quality healthcare is equal, regardless of socioeconomic status.
Their study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Oncology, counters previous research suggesting that Black men receiving these therapies—which include hormone therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy—fare worse than white men do.
Investigators in this study contrasted data from a large database of cancer registries reporting outcomes in all types of healthcare settings with two other types of data. One set of data was collected in healthcare settings including the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, where access to care for Black patients and white is more equal. Another set of data was from randomized clinical trials where all prostate cancer patients received the same treatment, and outcomes for Black versus white patients were compared.
