Race not linked to cancer upgrading in Hispanic men receiving radical prostatectomy

The rates of upgrading and adverse pathology at radical prostatectomy cancer are similar in Hispanic men and non-Hispanic men with prostate cancer, according to results presented at the 2021 Society of Urologic Oncology Annual Meeting.¹

Helen Y. Hougen, MD

“Hispanic (patients) are more negatively impacted by socioeconomic factors, such as neighborhood effects, compared (with White patients). However, despite this, they have similar survival compared with white (patients) suggesting an at least equal, if not more favorable, cancer characteristic,” said Helen Y. Hougen, MD, a urologic oncology fellow in the department of Urology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Researchers sought to examine a rate and pattern of upgrading (any increase in Gleason grad [GG] from biopsy to prostatectomy) and adverse pathology (extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion, LN+) in Hispanic patients using an institutional prostatectomy database, specifically in the south Florida region.

Previously, the SEER database has demonstrated there are similar survival outcomes between Hispanic and White patients with prostate cancer; however, this database does not include South Florida, which has a high population of Hispanic men.

Patients included in the study were non-Hispanic White (NHW; n = 688), Hispanic White (HW; n = 736), and Black (n = 426) men who underwent a radical prostatectomy between 2014 to present. There was no significant difference in age, BMI, PSA, prostate size, or biopsy GG between groups.

Results demonstrated that 651 patients had upgrading, and it was not different between groups.

On the univariable analysis, patients who were Black had a lower rate of adverse pathology compared with patients who were White. Hougen explained this may be because the Black population in south Florida has a greater number of men who are of Caribbean decent, not African origin.

In the multivariable analysis, significant predictors for upgrading included older age, higher PSA, and lower prostate weight. And there were no differences observed between the three groups and the rate of upgrading.

Adverse pathology odds increased with older age, higher PSA, higher BMI, lower prostate weight, increased number of biopsy cores, and higher GG.

Reference

1. Hougen, H. Iakymenko, O, Punnen, S, et al. Race is not associate with prostate cancer upgrading in Hispanic men undergoing radical prostatectomy. Society of Urologic Oncology 22nd Annual Meeting; Virtual. December 1-3, 2021; Orlando, FL. Abstract 148.