By Ed Susman

CHICAGO, IL – Researchers at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital said their experience in dealing with African American men indicates that the only significant factor in predicting outcomes following definitive radiotherapy for prostate cancer is the biology of the disease.

“We didn’t find any correlation between socioeconomic status – the amount a patient earns, where he lives or if he is married – and outcomes,” said Farzan Siddiqui, MD., PhD, a radiation oncologist at the hospital.

Dr. Siddiqui presented the findings of the study at the 51^st annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology here.

He noted that his study differed from several others that have investigated reasons why African Americans appear to have worse outcomes with prostate cancer when compared with other races. Several previous studies have hinted that socioeconomic status may play a role, but the Henry Ford research team could not confirm that,

“This study offers an extremely important message for all patients with prostate cancer who receive radiation therapy,” said Benjamin Movsas, MD, senior study author and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Henry Ford Hospital. “Despite the fact that there was a large difference in income based on race, none of the socioeconomic status factors predicted for outcome. All patients did equally well, based on the known prognostic factors.”

Henry Ford Hospital cohort, 362 patients were white and 382 patients were African American; 44 men identified themselves as other ethnicities

Farzan Siddiqui, MD

Dr. Siddiqui suggested that the study might be unique because nearly half of the 788 patients in the study are African American. In most studies of these types, he said, the level of African American participation is between 8% to 15%. In the

“Henry Ford Hospital treats a large number of African American patients and has excellent cancer outcomes, so we really began to question results from many of these prior studies,” said Dr. Siddiqui.

The study included patients with localized prostate cancer who were treated with external beam radiation therapy. Among those in the study, 48.5% were African American with a median household income $36,917, and 46 percent were white with a median household income of $60,190. The patients’ ages ranged from 44 to 90.

While there was a large difference in median household income among African Americans and whites, none of the socioeconomic factors examined predicted for patient outcome. Only known disease risk factors determined overall survival or biochemical (PSA) control rates.

“Our results suggest if patients are properly cared for and managed that their race, income and marital status should not affect their outcome,” said Dr. Siddiqui. After multivariable modeling, only disease-risk category was predictive for biochemical failure or overall survival (p<0.05).

–11-04-2009