Doctors, researchers create new prostate-specific antigen test guidelines to better detect cancer in Black men
Black men are much more likely to die from prostate cancer than the general population. A group of Chicago-area researchers is working to close that gap by targeting which men get a critical blood test that screens for the disease.
Most men will recognize the result of a prostate-specific antigen test, or PSA.
"It's a protein that's made by the prostate gland as part of its normal function," said Dr. Peter Gann.
If levels are too high, that could be a sign of prostate cancer.
"It can reduce mortality from prostate cancer by detecting cancer earlier," Dr. Gann said.
He says, however, there's a downside.
"If we don't screen the right men at the right time, we can actually do harm because there are prostate cancers that will not progress, and it can lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment," he said.
Dr. Gann did a study to make sure the right men get the test at the right time—especially men in predominantly Black neighborhoods, where prostate cancer deaths are much higher than the general population.
"One of the things that we're noticing is that if you look at neighborhoods in the south and west side of Chicago, they carry almost twice as much prostate cancer mortality," he said.
In the study, Dr. Gann, Dr. Karriem Watson, the UI Health Miles Square CEO, and a team of scientists created the SMART PSA guidelines. It includes risk factors such as being part of the Black community.
"We found out that age, family history as well as African ancestry are the risk factors that determine when we should screen our population," said Dr. Watson.
He says the guidelines are already working.
"When we ask the right questions with the right populations, we can get answers that can help us get to the right solutions. So we should definitely be excited. This study is demonstrating that the more we know that we can actually screen and do better at who we screen and how we screen," he said.
"My urologist came to me, and he says, 'Doc, there's no way to tell you this, but you have prostate cancer," said Dr. Josef Ben Levi.
He knows the risks of prostate cancer firsthand. Dr. Ben Levi was diagnosed with the disease a little more than 10 years ago.
"The first thing that was going through my mind was fear, because now I'm thinking I might die," he said.
But thanks to some non-surgical treatment, he's now cancer-free.
Now, more Black men can get the same chance at recovery thanks to the new PSA guidelines.
"My thing is always this. How much do you love living? Do you love living? Are there things in life that you haven't done yet that you want to do? Are you concerned about your children, your loved ones, and so forth? And do you want to be around to see them grow and have a life and so forth? Well, yeah. Okay, you do now. What are you gonna do about it?" Dr. Ben Levi said.
