In the United States, Black men are more likely than White men to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and twice as likely to die from the disease. A new study led by the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Virginia Commonwealth University has found living in a disadvantaged neighborhood may be responsible for this health disparity.
The authors sought out to investigate whether certain disadvantaged neighborhood metrics are associated with the expression of stress-related genes in prostate tumors. For their investigation, the researchers cross-examined a sample of Black and White men with prostate cancer who received a prostatectomy at the University of Maryland Medical Center between 1992 and 2021 with two neighborhood deprivation metrics, the racial isolation index, and historical redlining information regarding each participant’s neighborhood.
The results confirmed the authors’ hypothesis. Not only were Black participants more likely to live in a disadvantaged neighborhood, participants who lived in such neighborhoods had a higher expression of stress-related prostate genes. The strongest association was found in the HTR6 gene, which is responsible for carrying messages between the brain and body and is thought to contribute to immune responses.
The study’s findings are consistent with previous research connecting disadvantaged environmental and living conditions with racial health disparities among Black and White Americans. The authors believe further research on this area is needed to develop effective interventions aimed at reducing the extreme disparities in prostate cancer.
