UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: Prostate cancer represents 33% of all estimated new cancer cases in males. Based on data from a cohort monitored for mortality for up to 15 years, we investigated the association between beliefs regarding cancer treatment, detection, and curability and survival of a population-based cohort of 115 African-American and 136 White men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer in Connecticut, U.S., 1987-1990. These beliefs have been associated with cancer outcomes but research on racially/ethnically diverse populations and/or prostate cancer is limited. Methods: The items examined here include beliefs related to: treatment (surgery exposes cancer to air and causes it to spread; cancer treatment is worse than the disease), detection (a regular checkup won't detect cancer unless there are warning signs), and curability (most cancers can be cured). Final Cox proportional-hazards models were adjusted for socio-demographic variables (race/ethnicity, marital status, education, income, usual source of care), biomedical variables (AUA stage at diagnosis, histological grade based on Gleason's Score, and treatments received). Results: In fully adjusted models, not believing in the curability of cancer was associated with a higher risk of death from any cause (hazards ratio=1.70, 95% confidence interval=1.16, 2.50). Further adjustment for other social, biomedical, and lifestyle factors did not alter these results significantly. Beliefs regarding treatment or detection were not related to survival. Future research should focus on identifying mechanisms underlying this association (e.g., adherence to treatment protocols) as such findings have potential translation into intervention strategies for cancer survivors.