Impact of race on survival of prostate cancer patients treated with noncurative intent

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5069 Background: We previously reported that African American (AA) men have a higher recurrence rate than Caucasian (CA) men treated with radical prostatectomy at the New York Veteran Administration Medical Center (NY-VAMC), an equal access to care facility (J Urol. 2006). In the current study, we attempted to examine the differences in survival of AA and CA prostate cancer (PC) patients with clinically detected localized disease treated with non curative intent. We hypothesized that comparing patients whose PC was not altered by primary treatment might give a better idea about the difference, if any, of the natural history of PC in AA compared to CA patients. Methods: Men diagnosed with PC at NY-VAMC during 1990–2005 were identified. Inclusion criteria were: 1) biopsy confirmed PC; 2) no evidence of metastatic disease within 6 months after diagnosis; 3) no curative intent treatment. Results: The study included 530 men (288 AA and 242 CA) with median follow-up of 8.1 years (range: 0.6–17.6 years). AA men presented with significantly higher PSA compared to CA patients (median 18.5 versus 11.4 respectively, p = 0.004), however, there were no differences in age at presentation (median 73 versus 74, p = 0.98) or Gleason score (23% of AA and CA had Gleason >7, p = 0.92). Of the 530 patients, 198 (37%) are alive with disease, 67 (13%) died of prostate cancer, 206 (39%) died of other causes, and 59 (11%) died of unknown causes. AA patients had shorter median overall survival compared to CA patients (8 versus 9 years, respectively), however, the difference was not significant (p = 0.29). Factors most predictive of mortality by Cox regression multivariable analysis were PSA at diagnosis (p = 0.001), Gleason score (p = 0.04), and age of patient at diagnosis (p < 0.0001). Race was not an independent predictor of mortality in this model (p = 0.37). Competing risk analysis distinguishing the types of death is underway. Conclusions: The extended follow up available for our study cohort points to non PC related mortality as the major cause of death in patients treated with non-curative intent. No significant financial relationships to disclose.