Men with prostate cancer are being diagnosed at a younger age and earlier stage today than in years past, and the racial disparity in stage at diagnosis has decreased significantly, researchers report today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “Traditionally, Blacks are diagnosed with prostate cancer at a later stage compared with Whites,” and are more likely to die of the disease, study co-author Dr. Grace L. Lu-Yao of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick, told Reuters Health. Lu-Yao and colleagues analyzed 2004-2005 data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program on more than 82,500 prostate cancer patients. They compared this group with patients diagnosed in 1988-1989 and 1996-1997. The average age at diagnosis decreased from about 72 years in 1988-1989 to about 67 years in 2004-2005 and the rate of particularly late-stage cases fell from about 53 to 8 per 100,000 among Whites and from 91 to 13 per 100,000 among Blacks. Based on the 2004-2005 data, the vast majority of men had cases diagnosed when they had not yet spread, Lu-Yao said. Lu-Yao credited prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for the earlier diagnoses. While that test is recommended by some medical groups, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force “concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of prostate cancer screening in men younger than age 75 years” and that men over the age of 75 should not be screened. The questions over screening come from the fact that many prostate cancers are slow-growing and may not be deadly, while the treatments can have significant side effects. The current study also “is the first nationwide study to document that the racial disparity in prostate cancer stage at diagnosis has decreased substantially during the period from 1988 to 2005,” Lu-Yao noted.

Black gay and bisexual men are less likely to get screened for prostate cancer than men of any other racial and ethnic backgrounds regardless of their sexual orientation, a new study by a researcher at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science reveals. Citing his study, which is published in the December issue of Medical Care, Medical News Today reports that Kevin C. Heslin based his examinations of prostate and colorectal testing rates on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Using telephone  interviews with 19,410 men who participated in the California Health Interview Survey, he discovered that there was no overall difference in the use of the prostate-specific antigen (or PSA) test among gay, bisexual and heterosexual men. Still, he found, “the percentage of gay and bisexual Black men who received the PSA test was 12 percent to 14 percent lower than heterosexual Blacks and 15 percent to 28 percent lower than gay and bisexual Whites,” Medical News Today reports. Said Heslin: “Gay and bisexual Black men had the lowest use of the PSA test, compared with every other group of men in the study. For Blacks, being a member of both racial and sexual minority groups represents a kind of double jeopardy when it comes to getting PSA testing.” So why are the findings so significant? Heslin notes that Black men are more likely to be diagnosed late with prostate cancer and, as a result, are more likely to die from the disease than any other racial or ethnic group.

Scientists find a protein that produces “good” fat. A study by researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center has shown that a protein known for its role in inducing bone growth can also help promote the development of brown fat, a “good” fat that helps in the expenditure of energy and plays a role in fighting obesity. “Obesity is occurring at epidemic rates in the U.S. and worldwide, and that impacts the risk and prognosis of many diseases,” said Yu-Hua Tseng, Ph.D., an assistant investigator in the Joslin Section on Obesity and Hormone Action and lead author of the paper published in the Aug. 21 issue of Nature. “We hope this study can be translated into applications to help treat or prevent obesity.” Tseng noted that obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes and is closely linked to metabolic syndrome, a collection of medical problems associated with insulin resistance that can lead to an increased risk of atherosclerosis, the build up of plaque in coronary arteries that leads to heart attack and stroke. In laboratory studies of mouse cells, Tseng and her colleagues identified that a bone-inducing protein called BMP-7 drives precursor cells that give rise to mature brown fat cells. According to Tseng, there are two main types of fat cells in the body – white and brown. “White fat cells are the ‘conventional’ form of fat designed to store energy. By contrast, the main role of brown fat is to burn calories by generating heat. Brown fat cells largely disappear by adulthood in humans, but their precursors still remain in the body,” Tseng explained. In one of the experiments, the mice that developed brown fat tissue gained less weight than those that did not. In another experiment, mice that received injections of progenitor cells – similar to stem cells – that had been pre-treated with BMP-7, also developed additional brown fat tissue. “Diet and exercise are still the best approaches for weight reduction in the general population,” Tseng said. “However, for people who are genetically predisposed to obesity, these approaches may have very little effect.”

Prostate health group to meet next month. The Prostate Health Education Network, Inc., will host its fourth annual “African American Prostate Cancer Disparity Summit” in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25 to 26, 2008. “Since our very first summit in 2005, this event has proved highly effective in bringing together members of Congress, medical and research specialists, survivors and members of industry to address one of the biggest health crises in Black America,” says Thomas Farrington, the group’s president. African-American men die at a rate of 2.4 times that of all other men from prostate cancer. This is the largest racial disparity for any type of cancer. Because of the overwhelming success of the annual summits on Capitol Hill, the 2008 Summit will be held in conjunction with the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference. Speakers on Thursday will include Tavis Smiley, U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.); U.S. Rep Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.); Dr. Edward Benz, president of the American Association of Cancer Institutes; former Major League Baseball star and prostate cancer survivor Ken Griffey, Sr.; and many others. A Friday “Town Hall Meeting” will outline an “action blueprint” to address the prostate cancer crisis in Black America. This blueprint will be presented to the incoming presidential administration in 2009. Panelists will include well-recognized leaders in the war on prostate cancer. The school will work with churches to find out who is pre-diabetic. Mercer University gets $3.1 Million diabetes prevention grant. The National Institutes of Health awarded Dr. John Boltri, a physician at the Mercer University School of Medicine, and his $3.1 million to study a church-based diabetes prevention and education programs. Mercer medical professors will be working with the Medical Center of Central Georgia in a five-year study that will launch in April or May, said Boltri, who conducted earlier research showing that the rate of diabetes was 50 percent higher in Blacks than in Whites. “We’re going into African-American churches and doing screenings for diabetes,” said Boltri, who works as a physician at the Family Health Center in Macon. “We’re looking to see who has pre-diabetes.”

Experimental vaccines based on the theory haven’t worked so far.
Antibodies in infected people could lead to widespread HIV protection. Some long-term survivors of HIV infection produce rare and extremely potent antibodies that keep the disease from progressing to AIDS. Those same survivors might point to protection that might keep uninfected people from the virus, researchers reported in the closing hours of the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. The antibodies, against a particular part of a much-studied HIV protein called gp120, might prove useful as a microbicide for blocking infection during sexual intercourse, the Washington Post reports. If researchers could find a way to jump start the immune system to make its own supply of the antibodies before it encountering the virus, they would have a vaccine. “I think the road is long before we reach that point,” cautioned Stephanie Planque, the researcher who presented two studies based on the theory. The search for both an AIDS microbicide and a vaccine has been particularly frustrating. No such drugs are in use, and some candidates tested in recent years have turned out to increase the risk of infection. The antibodies described at the conference attack a small and crucial region of HIV’s outer shell where the virus binds to its chief prey, immune-system cells called lymphocytes. Acting as an enzyme, the antibody clips the attachment point, and falls away undamaged and ready to do the job again. These “catalytic antibodies” have been isolated from people with lupus, a disease in which the immune system malfunctions and produces a large number of unusual antibodies. Catalytic antibodies have also been seen in some long-term survivors of HIV infection, including three people with the blood disease hemophilia, whose cases were described yesterday. People infected with HIV make antibodies against gp120, but in most cases they are not enough to stop or slow the infection. A vaccine consisting of multiple injections of purified gp120 protein did not protect people in a large clinical trial run earlier this decade.

African-American males are still not getting proper prostate checks. New research suggests that roughly one in five American men in their 40s has had a blood test to screen for prostate cancer within the last year. However, screening rates among Black men are still considered less than ideal, the investigators say. “Our findings for Black men are discouraging,” senior investigator Dr. Judd W. Moul from Duke University in Durham, N.C., commented in a written statement. “We’ve been encouraging Black men to get screened at age 40 or 45 for more than a decade, yet only one-third of these high-risk men reported being tested.” Blood levels of a protein called prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, typically rise when a man has prostate cancer, so PSA testing is often used to screen for the disease. It is generally recommended that men discuss PSA screening for prostate cancer with their doctors starting at age 50. However, the American Cancer Society recommends screening at age 45 for African-American men, or earlier if there is a strong family history. The new study posted online Monday in the journal Cancer involved an analysis of data collected in 2002 on 58,511 men aged 40 and older. The findings suggest that young Black men are 2.4 times more likely than their White counterparts to undergo PSA screening. Still, the investigators comment that the rate in Black men – 33.6 percent – is disappointingly low considering that they are at higher risk for prostate cancer, Reuters News reports. Overall, 22.5 percent of men aged 40 to 49 and 53.7 percent of older men reported having a PSA screen in the prior year. Predictors of PSA testing in young men included an annual household income of $35,000 or greater, having an ongoing relationship with a physician, and health insurance coverage.

Whole Foods recalls dangerous beef. Texas-based Whole Foods grocer is recalling fresh ground beef from 23 states and the District of Columbia because of possible E. coli contamination. The beef was sold between June 2 and Aug. 6. A spokeswoman said Whole Foods has had reports of seven shoppers getting sick in Massachusetts and two in Pennsylvania. She said the recalled beef was processed at the Nebraska beef plant linked to an E. coli outbreak this summer. Whole Foods said only a small amount of its beef was contaminated, but all the beef is being recalled. The spokeswoman isn’t sure what the total amount is, but the recall covers Whole Foods Market stores in the eastern half of the United States, plus Canada. Whole Foods is asking customers to get rid of any ground beef they might have purchased, and take the packaging or receipt to the store for a refund.

N. Caroline churches urge men to get prostate tests. Churches across North Carolina are preparing to participate in the first African American Prostate Cancer Awareness on Sept. 24. This initiative augments National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month during September, which is also Cancer Awareness Month. “African American churches traditionally have educated congregations on health issues impacting the African American community, and the program taps into the faith community’s influence,” says the Rev. Ronald J. Weatherford. Weatherford is the founder of Nia’s Ark, a High Point-based ministry that has been raising health awareness in churches since 1999. The goal is to provide education and encourage testing among African American men. Prostate cancer is highly treatable if detected in its early stages. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 17 North Carolina counties as leading the world in prostate cancer mortality rates. And African American men die at twice the rate of white men. Gov. Michael Easley has endorsed this initiative, a partnership among Nia’s Ark, the Carolina Community Network, the N.C. Office of Minority Health, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and the National Cancer Institute.

New study fruit fly could help with fight diabetes Studying fruit flies, scientists are on track for discovering genes that can help control fat storage in African-American women. “Insects store fat like mammals do, as lipid droplets accumulated in the fat body, the functional equivalent of both mammalian liver and white adipose tissue,” said Maria De Lucam who led a team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham that helped identify potential gene-fighters from different types of fruit flies. “Drosophila share many components of fat biosynthesis, degradation and regulation with humans, including many of those implicated in diabetes and obesity.” As the prevalence of obesity and related health problems continues to increase worldwide, there is considerable effort being devoted to identify how to control fat storage genetically. Based on work in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the scientists discovered two gene variants associated with body shape, one in women of European-American descent and the other affecting women of American-African descent, according to ScienceDaily. “We found one variant to be associated with weight and lean mass in both ethnic groups,” DeLuca said. “A different variant was associated with triglyceride levels and HDL-cholesterol in African-American women.” The information might eventually be used to determine which genes can trigger fat storage and how to either determine who might be vulnerable to diabetes or how to better control the disease, scientists say.