A Wayne State University prostate cancer study funded by the American Cancer Society won the North American Primary Care Research Group’s Pearl Award, given to research deemed to have the most clinical impact.

Wayne State University School of Medicine principal investigator Jinping Xu, M.D., presented data from “Uptake of Active Surveillance for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer in a Population-Based Cohort” at the 2018 annual meeting of the group Nov. 9-13 in Chicago.

The study results showed that men and their physicians are more accepting of active surveillance, versus curative treatment, than previously reported, but the patient’s race and their location also played roles in their decision-making.

Dr. Xu is a professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences. Her study, a collaboration between WSU and Emory University, found that 55 percent of 1,700 patients surveyed chose active surveillance, a much higher rate compared to five to 10 years ago, when the rate was 10 percent to 15 percent. Black men chose active surveillance less often than white men, and also chose radiation more often than white men, especially in Georgia.

The longitudinal cohort study used population-based samples from cancer registries in Georgia and the Detroit area. Participants included black and white men younger than 75 years old who were newly diagnosed (between 2014 and 2017) and considered low risk. Participants completed a two-part self-administered survey soon after their diagnosis, and again 18 months later. The survey also measured quality of life between each group. The latter data will be presented in the future.

“We are very happy and feel honored to have received this award because it was chosen by a committee of community practicing physicians as one of the top research studies out of 1,300 studies presented at the annual meeting, that will impact clinical practice, not just the new knowledge to be gained from our study,” Dr. Xu said. “It is truly a testament to the value of our study, which makes all of the hard work put into the study from the whole study team a worthwhile endeavor, both at WSU and at Emory University.”

Pearl Award winners are chosen by the North American Primary Care Research Group’s Community Clinician Advisory Group.