In September, we were delighted to announce the launch of our 2021 grant call, which is focused on tackling racial disparities in prostate cancer. We have gone through all the submitted applications and will soon announce what research we will be funding.
We received many grant proposals with the goal of addressing and targeting the racial discrepancies in mortality rates for men with prostate cancer, and we are proud to take on as many research projects as we can. PCR has committed to funding multiple projects taking place across the UK and our very first project in the United States.
Racial disparities among men with prostate cancer are among the largest for any common cancer. Each year in the US, approximately 1 in 4 Black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer compared with 1 in 8 white men, and it is estimated that Black men are 2.2 times more likely to die from prostate cancer each year.
Our analysis has revealed that very little is being done to address this, leading us to take both an awareness-raising and a research initiative in 2021.
Much more research is needed, not just to establish why Black men are at higher risk of developing prostate cancer, but also to understand if a person’s ethnicity plays a role in their likelihood to benefit from specific cancer treatments. More understanding is also needed of the societal differences faced by Black men with prostate cancer and the impact it has on their quality of life.
Our ongoing funded research has the potential to improve outcomes for men of all ethnicities. We are now taking direct action to improve the situation for the Black community in response to both the greater need in this area, and the fact that this research has been historically neglected.
