Racial disparities in an aging population: the relationship between age and race in the management of African American men with high-risk prostate cancer

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between age and race on the receipt of definitive therapy among men with high-risk prostate cancer (CaP).

Methods: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program to identify 62,644 men with high-risk CaP (PSA >20 or Gleason 8-10 or stage ≥cT3a) diagnosed from 2004 to 2010. Multivariable logistic regression analysis modeled the interaction between age and race and its association with receipt of definitive therapy on 57,674 patients (47,879 white men; 9,795 African American [AA] men) with complete data on the covariates of interest.

Results: Among men age ≥70, AA men had a higher risk of CaP-specific mortality (PCSM) compared to white men after adjusting for sociodemographic and prostate cancer-specific factors (Adjusted HR 1.20; 95% CI 1.02-1.38; P=0.02). Nevertheless, a significant interaction between race and age was found (Pinteraction=0.01), such that the adjusted odds of receiving definitive treatment for AA vs. white was 0.67 (95% CI 0.62-0.73; P<0.001) among men age <70, but was 0.60 (95% CI 0.55-0.66; P<0.001) among men age ≥70, suggesting increased racial disparity in the receipt of definitive treatment among older men.

Conclusion: AA men with high-risk CaP are less likely to receive definitive therapy than white men. This disparity is significantly larger among men age ≥70, despite excess PCSM among AA men in this group. With a rapidly expanding population of older minority men, this disparity should be urgently addressed to prevent increasing disparities in cancer care.