The risk of prostate cancer amongst South Asian men in southern England: the PROCESS cohort study.
OBJECTIVE
To reinvestigate whether South Asian men in the UK are at lower risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer in a UK-based retrospective cohort study and to examine possible reasons that may explain this.


METHODS
The catchment areas were predefined in four areas of southern England, and age- and race-specific populations for those areas taken from census data. Cases were ascertained through review of multiple hospital sources, while race, other demographic factors, and medical history were determined using questionnaires sent to the men, hospital records review and death certificates. The South Asian group included men of Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin.


RESULTS
There was modest evidence of lower prostate cancer rates in South Asian men compared with their White neighbours (age-adjusted rate ratio 0.81; 95% confidence interval 0.65-1.00). This difference did not reflect less use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing or differences in clinical features at presentation.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides evidence of a lower incidence of prostate cancer amongst South Asian men living in England, in comparison with their White counterparts. If anything, South Asian men presented with clinical features of earlier disease suggesting that the reduced risk is unlikely to be an artefact of poorer access to health care.
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Chris
C
Metcalfe
Biral
B
Patel
Simon
S
Evans
Fowzia
F
Ibrahim
Ken
K
Anson
Francis
F
Chinegwundoh
Cathy
C
Corbishley
Danny
D
Dorling
Bethan
B
Thomas
David
D
Gillatt
Roger
R
Kirby
Gordon
G
Muir
Vinod
V
Nargund
Rick
R
Popert
Raj
R
Persad
Yoav
Y
Ben-Shlomo
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D012307:Risk Factors
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen