Impact of Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening Pattern on Prostate Cancer Mortality Among Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White Men: A Large, Urban Health System Cohort Analysis.

PURPOSE

Randomized studies assessing the effect of PSA screening on mortality in non-Hispanic Black (NHB) men are lacking. We aimed to assess the association between PSA screening and survival among NHB men in comparison to non-Hispanic White (NHW) men in a racially diverse real-world North American population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study cohort included 6378 men who self-identified as NHB or NHW and were diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa). Patients received PSA screening and subsequent PCa treatment and follow-up at our institution. Patients were sorted based on PSA testing intensity for the 5 years prior to diagnosis, as follows: never, some (<1 test/y), and annual testing (1 test/y). The primary outcome was risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM). Competing risk cumulative incidence curves estimated PCSM rates. Competing risk regression analyses examined the impact of PSA testing on PCSM. An interaction term was incorporated to assess the impact of race on the outcome.

RESULTS

Median (IQR) age and PSA at diagnosis were 67 (60-73) years and 5.8 (4.4-9.6) ng/mL, respectively, and 2929 (46%) men were NHB (Kruskal-Wallis values < .001). Annual PSA testing was more frequent in NHW (5%) than in NHB (3%) men (χ value < .001). On cumulative incidence analysis, in the never, some, and annual PSA testing groups, the 10-year PCSM was respectively 12.3%, 5.8%, and 4.6% in NHW and 18.5%, 7%, and 1.2% in NHB patients (Gray's test values < .001). At competing risk regression, PSA screening rate was associated with more favorable PCSM rates (HR: 0.47; 95% CI 0.33-0.68; < .001). The interaction term for race did not show statistical significance ( = .2).

CONCLUSIONS

PSA testing was associated with a reduced risk of PCSM in both NHB and NHW men diagnosed with PCa. Additionally, the positive impact of the screening rate seemed to be independent of race.