Does race affect postoperative outcomes in patients with low-risk prostate cancer who undergo radical prostatectomy?
OBJECTIVE
To assess the magnitude of racial disparities in prostate cancer outcomes following radical prostatectomy for low-risk prostate cancer.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed our database of 2407 patients who under went radical prostatectomy and isolated 2 cohorts of patients with low-risk prostate cancer. Cohort 1 was defined using liberal criteria, and cohort 2 was isolated using more stringent criteria. We then studied pre- and postoperative parameters to discern any racial differences in these 2 groups. Statistical analyses, including log-rank, chi(2), and Fisher's exact analyses, were used to ascertain the significance of such differences.


RESULTS
Preoperatively, no significant differences were found between the white and African-American patients with regard to age at diagnosis, mean prostate-specific antigen, median follow-up, or percentage of involved cores on prostate biopsy. African-American patients in cohort 1 had a greater mean body mass index than did white patients (26.9 vs 27.8, P = .026). The analysis of postoperative data demonstrated no significant difference between white and African-American patients in the risk of biochemical failure, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle involvement, positive surgical margins, tumor volume, or risk of disease upgrading. African-American patients in cohort 2 demonstrated greater all-cause mortality compared with their white counterparts (9.4% vs 3.1%, P = .027).


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with low-risk prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy, there exist no significant differences in surrogate measures of disease control, risk of disease upgrading, estimated tumor volume, or recurrence-free survival between whites and African-Americans.
Resnick
M J
MJ
Division of Urology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. Matthew.Resnick@uphs.upenn.edu
Canter
D J
DJ
Guzzo
T J
TJ
Brucker
B M
BM
Bergey
M
M
Sonnad
S S
SS
Wein
A J
AJ
Malkowicz
S B
SB
D001741:Black or African American; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D044465:White People