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Though Black males die of prostate most cancers at twice the speed of the remainder of U.S. males, this truth typically isn’t identified or thought-about throughout appointments with their primary-care clinicians to debate a typical screening take a look at.
The brand new qualitative examine revealed this week in JAMA Community Open confirmed that Black males typically view their primary-care suppliers because the gatekeepers to receiving a prostate particular antigen (PSA) take a look at, which is step one to screening for prostate most cancers.
“There is an often-used phrase, ‘Prostate cancer is a cancer one dies with; it’s not a disease you die from,'” stated the examine’s lead creator, Jenney Lee, a senior analysis scientist in urology on the College of Washington College of Drugs.
“And to a point that is true in that, in many cases, prostate cancer is slow growing.”
However the 29 Black males interviewed for this examine associated that, in lots of cases, their suppliers dismissed the PSA take a look at as pointless and didn’t have the background information that Black males are extremely in danger for this sort of most cancers.
Black males additionally are typically identified at an earlier age, and at a later stage of illness than different males.
“Which is why we are focused on PSA screening to catch the disease earlier, when it is more treatable,” Lee stated.
“This is why these conversations (about PSA testing) really need to be happening,” she stated. “If we can get Black men screened in their 40s rather than in their 50s, the mortality rate due to prostate cancer drops by up to 30%.”
The incidence of prostate most cancers amongst Black males in the USA is 60% to 80% larger than in males of different races. Their mortality fee is twice that of non-Black males.
Interview members, all within the Puget Sound area of Washington state, reported an absence of trusted relationships with their primary-care clinician to assist shared decision-making.
Whereas each urologists and primary-care professionals have been extremely conscious of U.S. Preventive Companies Activity Pressure tips, these in primary-care have been a lot much less probably than urologists to imagine within the worth of PSA testing or the position of early detection to forestall prostate-cancer associated mortality, the examine authors famous.
Actually, solely 6% of the primary-care clinicians stated of their surveys that they thought-about PSA testing as taking part in a big position in decreasing prostate most cancers mortality, authors famous.
“That lower percentage surprised us,” Lee stated.
Except for affected person interviews, the examine authors despatched on-line surveys to 63 physicians and urologists within the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The examine was performed between Sept. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2023.
To be honest, primary-care professionals have acquired blended messages about prostate most cancers and the worth of PSA exams, Lee stated. The U.S. Preventive Companies Activity Pressure (USPSTF) ranks the take a look at as a “C,” or beneficial in some circumstances. And it has no score that particularly focuses on high-risk teams, akin to Black males, based on its web site.
In distinction, the American Urological Affiliation recommends a 2- to 4-year screening interval for males ages 50 to 69 with common danger. Screening could also be supplied to high-risk males, which incorporates Black males, starting at ages 40 to 50, based on the affiliation’s web site.
The American Most cancers Society recommends that Black males begin conversations about prostate most cancers screening, together with PSA testing, at age 45, or 40 if there is a household historical past of most cancers.
Dr. Yaw Nyame, UW Drugs urologist and senior creator of the examine, hopes that the USPSTF may improve its advice or make a selected advice for underserved communities akin to Black males. Nyame can be a doctor on the Fred Hutch Most cancers Middle.
The positioning acknowledges that an replace to the steering is pending.
“This paper shows that we are not applying this lens to Black patients as much as we should,” Nyame stated. “Wholesome Black males ought to have a screening if they need.
In our examine, we discovered that this request was typically met with resistance, that the primary- care suppliers did not imagine in PSA testing,” he added. “In greater image, we have to revisit how we view prostate-cancer screening in these communities.”
Lee urged that primary-care suppliers may shrink back from recommending a PSA take a look at for worry of a false constructive end result, which could result in costlier and invasive testing. However given the extremely at-risk nature of Black sufferers, this warning could have to be put aside, she stated
“We know this is a hot button issue in many medical communities. But this is a discussion that needs to be had.”
Extra data:
Jenney R. Lee et al, Affected person and Doctor Perceptions of Prostate-Particular Antigen Testing Amongst Black People, JAMA Community Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.30946
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College of Washington College of Drugs
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Research finds primary-care docs typically overlook prostate most cancers danger in Black males (2025, September 13)
retrieved 13 September 2025
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