Assessment of Prostate Cancer Treatment Among Black and White Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

IMPORTANCE Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, racial/ethnic minority communities disproportionately experienced poor outcomes; however, the association of the pandemic with prostate cancer (PCa) care is unknown. OBJECTIVE To assess the association between race and PCa care delivery for Black and White patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This multicenter, regional, collaborative, retrospective cohort study compared prostatectomy rates between Black and White patients with untreated nonmetastatic PCa during the COVID-19 pandemic (269 patients from March 16 to May 15, 2020) and prior (378 patients from March 11 to May 10, 2019). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Prostatectomy rates. RESULTS Of the 647 men with nonmetastatic PCa, 172 (26.6%) were non-Hispanic Black men, and 475 (73.4%) were non-Hispanic White men. Black men were significantly less likely to undergo prostatectomy during the pandemic compared with White patients (1 of 76 [1.3%] vs 50 of 193 [25.9%]; P