Prostate cancer is more common in Black men than in white men — one in six Black men in the United States will develop the disease, compared with one in eight white men. Not only that, but Black men are also twice as likely to die of the disease (A. N. Giaquinto et al. CA Cancer J. Clin. 72, 202–229; 2022). Joseph Ravenell, a population-health researcher at New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, spoke to Nature about the causes of disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, and why important work to provide equal access to care might not eliminate racial inequity by itself.
Why does prostate cancer affect Black people differently?
Most disparities are due to social determinants of health — factors such as socioeconomic status, access to care and insurance coverage. The evidence shows that these factors play a much bigger part in disparities than does biology.
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