More black men die from prostate cancer than nonblack men because they do not receive early diagnoses and treatment or do not have access to health care, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said on NPR's "News & Notes" on Monday. Meeks has introduced a resolution that would encourage federal agencies to designate funding for prostate cancer education, awareness outreach and research focused on the disease's effect on black men. According to Meeks, research has found that black men with moderate grade cancers were 36% less likely than white men to receive treatment and Hispanic men were 16% less likely than white men to receive treatment. Meeks said that he is hopeful Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who next year will become chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, will "put forth a proactive agenda to combat and educate particularly" black men about the disease. The NPR segment also includes interviews with Mark Litwin, a urology professor at University of California-Los Angeles, and Yu-Ning Wong, a researcher at Fox Chase Cancer Center, about a recent Journal of the American Medical Association prostate cancer study. According to the study, older prostate cancer patients will live longer the earlier they receive treatment. After a prostate cancer diagnosis, race should not be a factor in determining a man's treatment; however, black men should consider receiving screening tests earlier because of their higher prevalence of the disease, Litwin said (Cox, "News & Notes," NPR, 12/18).

Audio of the segment is available online.