Clinical features and treatment outcome of Hispanic men with prostate cancer following external beam radiotherapy.
OBJECTIVE
We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics and outcomes of Hispanic men compared with other groups who underwent radiotherapy alone for localized or locally advanced prostate cancer.


METHODS
Between April 1987 and January 1998, 964 men who underwent full dose external beam radiotherapy alone for localized or locally advanced prostate cancer were included in the study. Patient medical records were reviewed for pertinent information.


RESULTS
Of the 964 men 810 were non-Hispanic white, 54 were Hispanic and 86 were black Americans. The most significant difference among the groups was in the proportion of patients who presented with initial prostate specific antigen (PSA) greater than 20 ng/ml (22% of Hispanic vs 11% of white men, p = 0.0012). In addition, 17% of Hispanic men had a Gleason score of 8 or greater compared with 11% of white men (p = 0.0265). A greater proportion of Hispanic patients also had a less favorable posttreatment PSA nadir of greater than 1 ng/ml compared with white patients, (44% vs 26%, p = 0.0214), which may have translated into a trend toward a lower 5-year disease-free survival rate in Hispanics vs white men (52% vs 65%, p = 0.07).


CONCLUSIONS
Hispanic men presented with higher PSA and higher grade prostate cancer than white men. Furthermore, a higher percent of Hispanic men had a PSA nadir of 1 ng/ml or greater after radiotherapy, which may have been responsible for their trend toward a decreased 5-year disease-free survival rate compared with white men. Improved screening and early detection may improve disease-free survival in Hispanic men with localized prostate cancer.
Rosser
Charles J
CJ
Department of Urology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Kuban
Deborah A
DA
Levy
Lawrence B
LB
Pettaway
Curtis A
CA
Chichakli
Ramsey
R
Kamat
Ashish M
AM
Sanchez-Ortiz
Ricardo F
RF
Pisters
Louis L
LL
D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D044383:Black People; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000097:blood; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013781:Texas; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen