Racial/ethnic differences in treatment discussion, treatment chosen and treatment received for prostate cancer Free

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ABSTRACT:
 Title:
 Racial/ethnic differences in treatment discussion, treatment chosen and treatment received for prostate cancer
 Introduction: Racial/ethnic differences have been reported on the type of treatments received by prostate cancer patients. We hypothesize that the racial/ethnic differences in prostate cancer treatment arise from differences in discussing various treatment options by health professionals and differences in choosing a particular treatment options by the patients.
 Methods: This research was conducted on an existing MD Anderson Cancer Center dataset that included 746 prostate cancer patients who were diagnosed with organ confined disease. The information was self reported and we compared treatments, surgery, radiation therapy and watchful waiting, among white (n=294), Hispanic (n=173) and African American (n=279) patients.
 Result: The data showed that health professionals were less likely to discuss surgery and watchful waiting with Hispanic (77% and 28% respectively) and African American patients (77% and 31% respectively) compared to whites (88% and 43% respectively). No significant differences were found in the percentages of patients choosing surgery (white=56%, Hisp=60% and AA=48%) or watchful waiting (white=6%, Hisp=2% and AA=4%). Regarding radiation therapy, significantly more (p=0.01) Hispanic (35%) and African American patients (34%) chose radiation therapy compared to whites (24%). A comparison of agreement between treatment chosen and received showed that 88% of whites, 89% of Hispanics and 83% of African Americans chose and received surgery. The agreement was relatively lower for radiation therapy, 82% of whites, 73% of Hispanics and 70% of African Americans.
 Discussions: In this multiethnic study, we found that there were some racial/ethnic differences in treatment discussion, treatment choice and treatment received. Further in depth studies are needed to identify the reasons for these findings with the goal of eliminating differences and ensuring equal access to treatment in all racial/ethnic groups.