Poor 'Less Likely' To Get Prostate Cancer Care

It has been reported in a study that men living in deprived areas are less likely to receive treatment for prostate cancer than their richer counterparts.

The British Medical Journal, researched 35,000 men and described their findings as "substantial" with regards to economic backgrounds.

However previous studies have suggested survival rates as high as 7% between the least and most deprived.

When cancer of the prostate is reported as low risk or localised, most men are regularly monitored, if further development is noticed doctors offer treatment such as surgery or radiotherapy.

Cambridge University noted that the use of surgery more than doubled between 1995 and 2006. However their study showed it was more likely to be taken up by the most affluent - with 8.4% of this group receiving treatment to remove the prostate gland compared with 4% of the worst-off patients.

Almost 29% of the wealthiest received radiotherapy, compared with 21% of the poorest.

This pattern continued even when age, stage of the disease and hospital were accounted for.

When considering patterns the authors noted a myriad of factors which include differences in the interactions between patient and doctor or the risks patients with varying educational backgrounds were prepared to take with their treatment.

Prostate cancer accounts for about 12% of male deaths from cancer in the UK and is the second most common cause of cancer death in men.

In older men aged 85 and over, the disease is the most common cause of all deaths from cancer.

(BMcN/BMcC)