Prostate cancer disparities in Black men of African descent: a comparative literature review of prostate cancer burden among Black men in the United States, Caribbean, United Kingdom, and West Africa

Abstract

BackgroundAfrican American men have the highest prostate cancer morbidity and mortality rates than any other racial or ethnic group in the US. Although the overall incidence of and mortality from prostate cancer has been declining in White men since 1991, the decline in African American men lags behind White men. Of particular concern is the growing literature on the disproportionate burden of prostate cancer among other Black men of West African ancestry in the Caribbean Islands, United Kingdom and West Africa. This higher incidence of prostate cancer observed in populations of African descent may be attributed to the fact that these populations share ancestral genetic factors. To better understand the burden of prostate cancer among men of West African Ancestry, we conducted a review of the literature on prostate cancer incidence, prevalence, and mortality in the countries connected by the Transatlantic Slave Trade.ResultsSeveral published studies indicate high prostate cancer burden in Nigeria and Ghana. There was no published literature for the countries Benin, Gambia and Senegal that met our review criteria. Prostate cancer morbidity and/or mortality data from the Caribbean Islands and the United Kingdom also provided comparable or worse prostate cancer burden to that of US Blacks.ConclusionThe growing literature on the disproportionate burden of prostate cancer among other Black men of West African ancestry follows the path of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. To better understand and address the global prostate cancer disparities seen in Black men of West African ancestry, future studies should explore the genetic and environmental risk factors for prostate cancer among this group.

Waiting times for prostate cancer diagnosis in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…[1] There seems to be a paucity of evidence regarding the epidemiology of prostate cancer in sub-Saharan Africa. [2][3] It is, however, known that men of African descent appear to suffer disproportionately more from prostate cancer compared with men of other races or ethnicities, [4] and present with more advanced disease. [5][6][7][8] To date most, if not all, of the epidemiological studies on prostate cancer in South Africa (SA) have been undertaken by Heyns and colleagues in the Western Cape Province, [5,[9][10][11][12][13] and their findings have influenced national guidelines and policy.…”

The Potential Target Therapy of Prostate Cancer Stem Cells

“…Additional observations have shown that stem cells are also located in different regions of the prostate, which have the ability to survive androgen ablation and can regenerate prostatic tissue after androgen is replaced (Goto et al, 2006). The prolonged regenerative capacity of prostate progenitor stem cells may increase their susceptibility to accumulate genetic or epigenetic alterations during their life cycle, events that may help to promote increased proliferative rates, decreased cell death, and overall survival advantages over prostate progenitor stem cells, contributing thus to transformation (Al-Hajj & Clarke, 2004;Bapat et al, 2005;Beachy et al, 2004;Miller et al, 2005;Mimeault & Batra, 2006b, 2007aOdedina et al, 2009). The tumor associated stem cell compartment may therefore, represent a self-replicating reservoir of malignant cells, which may accumulate further genetic and epigenetic aberrations that can thus result in therapy-resistant, tumor recurrence and/or metastasis (Hsieh et al, 2007;Rajan et al, 2009;Witte, 2009).…”

Investigating racial differences in clinical and pathological features of prostate cancer in South African men

“…The transatlantic slave trade transported approximately 15 million people from West Africa to Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean during the 15 th to 19 th centuries (29). That number does not include the many millions who died en route.…”