Improving prostate cancer care equity for Black men

During her time as a family physician, Dr Aisha Lofters became interested in developing ways to equitably improve cancer prevention and screening. Eventually, she became a researcher and Medical Director at the Peter Gilgan Centre for Women’s Cancers at Women’s College Hospital.

She wanted to contribute to work that could shed light on why some groups of people cannot easily access cancer screening, or have less access to supports for preventing cancer through smoking cessation, healthy lifestyles and healthy diets.  

I think it’s really important that we have projects that focus on health equity and cancer research. We’ve seen in the past that if we don’t keep health equity front and centre, what ends up happening is that we inadvertently increase health inequities. It’s a very common trend that we see an innovation come in that reaches those who are at the centre of the mainstream population. So, they reap benefits while those at the margin’s don’t.

Through the generosity of donors, the Canadian Cancer Society (CSS) is now working with Dr Aisha Lofters. She and her team hope to give underserved people increased access to high quality prostate cancer care, to improve their outcomes following a diagnosis.

Black men of African or Caribbean ancestry have almost double the risk of developing prostate cancer compared to non-Black men. It is also common that they have less access to resources that support their cancer experiences and less awareness of risks related to family history.

Anthony Henry is the President of the Walnut Foundation – a prostate cancer survivorship group that supports Black men along their cancer experiences. He knows the struggles these men face very well.

There doesn’t seem to be the sensitivity that Black men are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and more likely to die from it. In addition, we see that Black men in high-risk groups are not always being encouraged to screen for prostate cancer.

To better understand the systemic barriers Black men face in accessing cancer care, the Walnut Foundation is collaborating on a new CCS Health Equity Research Grant.

Led by Dr Lofters, her team are interviewing Black men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and caregivers, to gather evidence about their challenges around accessing cancer care. Their findings will then be used to develop tools for doctors, to increase their knowledge of the barriers that exist for people who have been diagnosed.

“Our goal is to see improved awareness and accurate information about prostate cancer in the Black community,” says Lofters. “Even more so, we want to see an improvement in the quality of care provided by health professionals and make sure they aren’t coming to that encounter with racial stereotypes in mind.”

Dr Lofters hopes that people who donate to the Canadian Cancer Society know that they are an essential part of her work and the positive impact her team is making on people in underserved communities.

This specific Health Equity funding from CCS, I think, is such an innovative and exciting opportunity for us in Canada. My personal message to donors would be a very sincere and heartfelt thank you.

We need your support to move forward even more breakthroughs, raise awareness and provide compassionate care for people at every stage of their prostate cancer experience. Prostate cancer is one of the least preventable cancers, which is why investing research is so important to ensure people can live longer, fuller lives.