Active surveillance of prostate cancer in African-Americans during the MRI era.

Abstract

108 Background: Many patients with low-risk prostate cancer are encouraged by their physicians to pursue active surveillance (AS). AS has increasingly been utilized, however there remains anxiety by patients and their physicians that more aggressive disease will be missed and allowed to progress. African-American (AA) patients may present with more aggressive disease and higher rates of upgrading at the time of radical prostatectomy. Due to these factors, physicians may be hesitant to recommend AS to AA patients. We examined the role of AS in these patients in the era of MRI targeted biopsies. Methods: A prospectively maintained database was queried for all patients who underwent an MRI guided fusion biopsy from 2007 to 2016 and chose AS as their primary management strategy. Patents with Gleason Group (GG) 1 or 2 were eligible. Patients were then followed with yearly PSA, exam, MRI and biopsy if warranted. MRI Fusion biopsies were reviewed to determine any GG progression. Results: A total of 19 AA and 143 non-AA patients were reviewed with median follow up times of 31.63 (15.42 -89.50) and 30.87 (3.45 – 99.85) months, respectively. AA and non-AA patients had similar baseline PSA values (6.08 ± 2.93 vs. 5.89 ± 4.23, p = 0.85), proportion of GG 1 (15.89% vs 21.68%, p = 0.55) and PSA density (0.103 ± 0.041 vs. 0.123 ± 0.041, p = 0.36. However, AA patients did present at an earlier age (58.89 ± 6.64 vs. 63.69 ± 6.64, p = 0.004). A total of 8/19 (42.1%) AA and 46/143 (32.2%) non-AA had GG upgrading while on AS, p = 0.34. The median time until progression for AA and non-AA patients was 60.76 and 77.42 months, p = 0.68. Conclusions: In our study, AA men did begin AS at an earlier age than non-AA men. While both groups had statistically similar rates of progression, the relative risk of progression was higher in the AA cohort during this time period. Therefore, in the era of MRI and fusion biopsies we are better able to detect upgrading and somewhat mitigate the the risks associated with upgrading during AS irrespective of race but larger studies are needed to determine whether there are meaningful differences in the rates of progression between AA and non-AA men. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute, NIH.