Prostate Cancer Risk Higher in African American Men

Recent high-profile cases underscore the need for earlier screenings and awareness of varying levels of the disease.

Dexter King, son of Martin Luther King Jr., died of prostate cancer at age 62, highlighting the greater risk of the disease among African American men.
African American men are more likely to get prostate cancer than other races and ethnicities and are more than twice as likely to die from it.
The American Cancer Society recommends Black men ask about PSA screenings at 45, five years earlier than other groups.
Prostate cancer screening guidelines have changed over the past couple of decades, with some physicians and organizations discouraging screening with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, citing the lack of a survival benefit from screening and the risk of overtreatment.
There is a wide range of levels of prostate cancer, from benign cancers that can be safely observed without treatment to aggressive cancers that require a combination of treatment approaches, including surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and/or chemotherapy.