Black Men More Likely Than Whites to Have Prostate Cancer at Any Given PSA Level

Black men more likely than White men to receive a prostate cancer diagnosis on their first prostate biopsy

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) — At any given prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, Black men are more likely than White men to develop prostate cancer, according to a study published online Nov. 6 in Cancer.

Kyung Min Lee, Ph.D., from the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, and colleagues predicted the likelihood of prostate cancer diagnosis on first biopsy for 75,295 Black and 207,658 White male veterans in multivariable logistic regression models that included self‐identified race, age at first PSA test, prebiopsy PSA, age at first biopsy, smoking status, statin use, and socioeconomic factors.

The researchers found that Black veterans were 50 percent more likely to receive a prostate cancer diagnosis on their first prostate biopsy than White veterans after controlling for PSA and other covariates (odds ratio, 1.50). The probability of prostate cancer was 49 and 39 percent for a Black man and White man, respectively, at a PSA level of 4.0 ng/mL. The risk for prostate cancer was equivalent for Black veterans with a PSA of 4.0 ng/mL and White veterans with a PSA of 13.4 ng/mL.

“Combined with population‐level data suggesting both earlier onset and higher incidence of prostate cancer in Black men, our findings may indicate a need for PSA biopsy thresholds to be informed by a better understanding of patient risk factors,” the authors write.

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