African-American Men Face Disadvantages Versus Caucasian Men

Obesity and diabetes might mask the onset of prostate cancer in African American men, making it difficult to detect early-stage and treatable prostate cancer in a population of men already prone to aggressive cancer, according to researchers at Vanderbilt University. Their findings examine the link between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) -- a blood marker which at elevated levels indicates the presence of prostate cancer-- and biological markers for obesity and diabetes."African-American men, among all racial groups, are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer at an advanced stage and are also more likely to die from prostate cancer," said Jay H. Fowke, Ph.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of Medicine and cancer epidemiologist at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. According to Fowke, obese men are also more likely to present with prostate cancer at an advanced stage. Most prostate cancer is diagnosed in response to a PSA test, and a high body mass index (BMI) often corresponds with lower blood PSA levels. "Diabetes and metabolic disturbances associated with insulin regulation are more common among African-Americans compared to Caucasians, and metabolic disorders associated with obesity and diabetes may lower PSA levels and may cause a delay in referring a patient for a biopsy," Fowke said. "This may be in part why we often don't detect prostate cancer in African-American men until it is already fairly advanced."