The Majority Of Asian Men Show A Greater Ability To Survive Prostate Cancer
Posted by Goody on 02/19/08 in Health and Fitness
After skin cancer, prostate cancer is now the most frequently seen type of cancer in American men and it is predicted that just about 220,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed as having prostate cancer during 2007 and that approximately 27,000 men will die from the disease.
However, as with many conditions, prostate cancer survival rates are not the same around the globe and this should give us the data that will allow us to improve our treatment methods.
In a recent study data was collected on nearly 117,000 men with prostate cancer (approximately 108,000 white men and nearly 9,000 Asians drawn from the six largest Asian ethnic groups - South Asian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Vietnamese). The study examined prognostic factors and survival rates amongst these men.
Amongst the many findings from the study it was discovered that the risk profile for Asian men was worse than that for whites, with Asian men being more likely to have advanced cases of the disease by the time of diagnosis and of receiving treatment with a variety of non-curative therapies. However, the study also showed that the survival rates amongst Asian men were either equal to or better than those for white men.
These study results were particularly surprising when we note that the average age at which Asian men are diagnosed as having prostate cancer is much higher than that for white men and that their cancers are normally more advanced, which should clearly suggest a reduced survival rate.
When the data was studied in greater detail however it was found that there was a significant variation between different Asian groups. As an example, Japanese-American men were thirty-four percent less likely to die as a result of prostate cancer, while men from South Asia (including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan) were forty percent more likely to die from prostate cancer.
So just what does this tell us? Unfortunately the answer would seem to be very little. These differences are certainly large enough to be significant, but the wide variation between several broadly similar groups means that it is impossible to draw any concrete conclusions. Certainly there are a variety of things, like diet, exercise and genetics, that are a factor but several of the findings seem to be almost contradictory.
In consequence, a study that it was believed would identify differences across ethic groups which would permit us to improve prostate cancer treatment has in fact produced more questions that it has answered. Actually, apart from pointing to the dangers of drawing conclusions from too large a group, as witnessed in the wide variation in the figures for Asian men in general and South Asian men, the study has shown that the differences were larger than most people had believed and thus suggest that these differences might be more significant than previously believed.
As things stand, this study has not taken us any further forward but it has at least highlighted the need for further investigation that will hopefully provide better data and permit us to exploit the higher survival rates amongst many Asian men in drawing up prostate cancer treatment plans.
ProstateProblemCenter.com provides information on prostate cancer from understanding prostate cancer symptoms to examining different forms of prostate cancer treatment
Tags: prostate, prostate cancer, prostate cancer symptoms, prostate cancer treatment
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