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Anchor lead: Black men with low risk prostate cancer need active follow-up, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Many men with prostate cancer are categorized as low risk, meaning that they can be safely watched over time, and if the disease progresses treatment may then be employed, without a compromise of safety. Now a new study establishes that approach for Black men, who have historically had worse outcomes. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, describes the results.

Nelson: This confirms the suspicion that African American men may be at slightly increased risk to sprout a more aggressive cancer and need more treatment so they need to be watched. The active surveillance needs to be active, but it was also very safe to deploy this kind of strategy for African American men, as safe as it was for European men.  :17

Nelson says disparities may be the result of when the disease is diagnosed.

Nelson: The bias that leads to increased mortality among African Americans is many of them when they’re first diagnosed have more aggressive prostate cancer.  :08

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.