Prostate cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., and African American men are 73 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than any other race or ethnicity.
Today, most genomic studies of prostate cancer focus on men of European ancestry. In order to better detect prostate cancer and end one of the largest health disparities facing African American men, we need research and studies that increase the representation of African American men.
That’s why Robert F. Smith announced a new initiative in partnership with the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF). The new initiative will support the research and development of the Smith Polygenic Risk Test for Prostate Cancer — an early-detection tool that will use a single sample of saliva or blood to map more than 250 genetic variants and help identify a man’s lifetime risk of prostate cancer. This will help detect the diseases earlier and reduce health disparities as part of a larger PCF research initiative to improve the understanding of genetic risk in African American men.
“As African American men are at an increased risk for being diagnosed or dying from prostate cancer, understanding their risk profile and applying this knowledge earlier with strategic detection, care, and decisions about cancer risk management is of utmost importance to address health inequity in the U.S.,” said Smith. “This is why I made a personal commitment to help accelerate research, encourage African American men to participate in the study and subsequent testing, and develop new detection strategies that have the power to transform how we diagnose and treat this disease and help save lives.”
Read more about this initiative at the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
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