Figure 1. A to C, Slides 3 to 5 are from the symposium session, “Disparities in Prostate Cancer: State of the Science,” by Isla Garraway, MD, PhD, associate professor of urology at the University of California Los Angeles. Her talk, titled “The Clinical Research Perspective,” addressed the unknown impacts of the social determinants of health on prostate cancer mortality and how ConDUC (the Consortium on Disparities of Urologic Conditions) and the SCOPE (Scientific Consortium on Prostate Cancer Education) Registry can truly help contribute to identifying and understanding these unknowns. D, From the same session in the presentation, “The Basic and Translational Research Perspective,” presented by Olorunseun Seun Ogunwobi, PhD, chair, department of biochemistry and molecular biology, and professor, Michigan State University. He was discussing their hypothesis that the overexpression of the PVT1 exon 9 exerts its tumorigenic effect altering IFN-dependent and -independent pathways leading to the formation of highly aggressive neuroendocrine prostate cancer.

Figure 2. Dr Arthur “Bud” Burnett (moderator), with Dr Lydell Lettsome and Dr Peter Pinto.

Figure 3. Some of the ConDUC team members (left to right): Simpa Salami, MD; Lydell Lettsome, MD; Walter Rayford, MD, PhD, MBA; Kelly Brown-Morris (Clark Atlanta University); Randy Bradley, PhD; Robert Waterhouse, MD, MBA; and Brian Stone, MD.

In a culminating educational event for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the Consortium on Disparities of Urologic Conditions (ConDUC) hosted its third annual African American Prostate Cancer Symposium at Clark Atlanta University, one of the HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities), September 29 to 30, 2023. ConDUC is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to develop strategies to improve disparate outcomes in underserved populations with urologic diseases, the current focus being prostate cancer. The initiative is led by a team of prominent Black urologists and is assisted by a multidisciplinary team of scientists that include radiation oncologists, basic and clinical researchers, health care outcomes specialists, and health care and patient advocacy experts. In addition, ConDUC has received input from the pharmaceutical and biotech industry leaders. ConDUC, in partnership with ArborMetrix (a data science company), developed the Scientific Consortium on Prostate Cancer Education (SCOPE) Registry. The registry will capture clinical, pathologic, genomic, and serum biomarker data as well as social determinants impacting health in men with prostate cancer over time.

The catalyst for the creation of ConDUC and the SCOPE Registry was the frustration with a lack of data-driven treatment algorithms applicable to Black prostate cancer patients stemming from poor accrual of Black men into pivotal studies in prostate cancer. While SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) prostate cancer survival data have shown modest survival improvement in older Black prostate cancer patients over the past few decades, the mortality rate in Black men has remained proportionally almost 2.5 times that of White prostate cancer patients. The executive director, Walter Rayford, MD, PhD, MBA, and the ConDUC team members decided to tackle the unresolved issue of the absence of adequate data on prostate cancer in Black men themselves. In the years since the ConDUC concept was created, ConDUC has recruited a strong executive team, an external advisory board, and an extremely talented scientific committee to achieve its goals.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Collaborative Partnerships to Improve Outcomes.” It is no secret that Black American males have a significantly higher incidence and mortality rate from prostate cancer. The SCOPE Registry trial is currently onboarding sites and enrolling patients to significantly accelerate and increase data collection among Black prostate cancer patients. The goal of SCOPE is to become the largest data bank of Black prostate cancer patients in the nation. The focus of the symposium was fostering collaboration between like-minded entities that share the same goals as the ConDUC team. ConDUC has received the endorsement of the AUA, American Cancer Society, and the National Cancer Institute’s Urologic Oncology Branch. ConDUC has an established relationship with the Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development at Clark Atlanta University, which serves as the administrative office for ConDUC. ConDUC is excited about this partnership with an HBCU as it highlights the cultural significance of the project.

The symposium chairs, Ashanda Esdaille, MD (Emory University), and Simpa Salami, MD, MPH (University of Michigan), formulated a 2-day program in collaboration with the ConDUC executive team, in partnership with Clark Atlanta University. The Saturday morning program was highlighted by the session, “Disparities in Prostate Cancer: State of the Science,” and included the following presentations: “Clinical Research Perspectives” by Isla Garraway, MD, PhD (associate professor of urology, University of California Los Angeles), and “Basic and Translational Research Perspectives” by Olorunsean Ogunwobi, PhD (chair of biochemistry and molecular biology, Michigan State University). The keynote address was titled, “The MUSIC Roadmap to Improve Outcomes in Prostate Cancer” by Kevin Ginsburg, MD, MS (assistant professor, Wayne State University). The luncheon speaker was Thomas Farrington, President, and Founder of the Prostate Health Education Network, who related his personal journey as a prostate cancer survivor and the importance of patient advocacy and what the Prostate Health Education Network has accomplished toward patient education and clinical trial enrollment.

The afternoon session was titled, “Organizational Programs, Initiatives, and Funding Opportunities to Reduce Disparities in Prostate Cancer.” This session featured a series of short talks on “Faith Based Health Initiatives” by Lydell Lettsome, MD (Bayhealth Medical Center, Delaware), in addition to funding updates from the Prostate Cancer Foundation by Howard Soule, PhD, “The National Cancer Institute” by Peter Pinto, MD (senior investigator, National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research), “National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Opportunities” by Vanessa Marshall, PhD, CCRP (NIH), and “The American Cancer Society” by Lorelei Mucci, ScD, MPH (Director of Strategic Partnerships, American Cancer Society, and professor, Harvard School of Public Health). This was a very interactive session with audience engagement. The highlight of the afternoon was a very enlightening lecture, “Building Diversity in Genomics Research at the Regeneron Genetics Center” by Timothy Thornton, PhD (senior director of statistical genetics and machine learning).

Sunday’s program was also interactive, requiring attendees and program faculty to break up into the following 2 working groups to discuss how to address disparities in prostate cancer:

Group A—Collaborative Team Research Programs (policy/funding programs, targeted Request for Applications minority investigators) and Group B—Patient Engagement, Minority Patient Recruitment, and Reducing Barriers to Clinical Trials. These sessions resulted in recommendations and actionable items to help ConDUC and the SCOPE Registry achieve their goals. The conference ended with student presentations of their posters related to basic research on biologic mechanisms of disparate outcomes in prostate cancer. Three $1000 awards were presented.

SAVE THE DATE! NOVEMBER 8 to 10, 2024. 4th Annual Prostate Cancer Symposium at Clark Atlanta University. Addressing Prostate Cancer Disparities!