Racial variation in prostate cancer upgrading and upstaging among men with low-risk clinical characteristics.

BACKGROUND: African American (AA) men suffer a higher prostate cancer (PCa) burden than other groups.

OBJECTIVE: We aim to determine the impact of race on the risk of upgrading, upstaging, and positive surgical margins (PSM) at radical prostatectomy (RP) among men eligible for active surveillance.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We studied men with low-risk PCa treated with RP at two centers. Low clinical risk was defined by National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria. Outcome variables were upgrading, upstaging, and PSMs at surgery. Associations between race and the outcomes were evaluated with logistic regression adjusted for age, relationship status, diagnostic prostate-specific antigen level, percentage of positive biopsy cores, surgical approach, year of diagnosis, and clinical site.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Of 9304 men diagnosed with PCa, 4231 were low risk and underwent RP within 1 yr. Men were categorized as AA (n=273; 6.5%), Caucasian (n=3771; 89.1%), or other racial/ethnic group (Other; n=187; 4.4%). AA men had a significantly younger mean age (58.7 yr; standard deviation: ±7.06), and fewer (85%) were married or had a partner. Upgrading (34%) and upstaging (13%) rates did not significantly differ among the groups. The PSM rate was significantly higher in AA men (31%) than in the Caucasian (21%) and Other (20%) groups (p<0.01). We found an association between race group and PSM rate (p<0.03), with higher odds of PSMs in AA men versus Caucasian men (odds ratio [OR]: 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-2.47). No statistically significant associations between race and rates of upgrading and upstaging were found. This study was limited by the relatively low proportion of AA men in the cohort.

CONCLUSIONS: Among clinically low-risk men who underwent RP, AA men had a higher likelihood of PSMs compared with Caucasian men. We did not find statistically significantly different rates of upgrading and upstaging between the race groups.

PATIENT SUMMARY: We analyzed two large groups of men with what appeared to be low-risk prostate cancer based on the initial biopsy findings. The likelihood of finding worse disease (higher grade or stage) at the time of surgery was similar across different racial groups.