Prostate Cancer and Black Men

Problem: African American men are 60 percent more likely to get prostate cancer than whites. They're also twice as likely to die from it than any other group.

Prostate cancer affects all population groups. However, when incidence, mortality, and survival rates are compared by race and ethnicity, African American men are shown to bear a disproportionate burden. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in African American men and the second most common cause of cancer-related death. The ACS (2007b) estimated that 30,870 cases of prostate cancer would be diagnosed in African American men and that an estimated 4,240 African American men would die from the disease in 2007.

NCI and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the overall rate of newly diagnosed prostate cancer and the overall prostate cancer mortality rate to be higher in African American men than in men of other racial and ethnic population groups (Ries et al., 2007). In addition, although the five-year relative survival rate of African American men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer has increased in recent decades, it lags far behind that of other racial and ethnic groups

Hypothesis: Black men are only aware Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) and are reluctant to get tested/screened for prostate cancer.

Method: Two hundred (200) surveys will be collected and analyzed along with focus groups being conducted with (fifty) 50 Black men, on their attitude, knowledge, and belief about prostate cancer