Heath EI et al. (2008) The effect of race/ethnicity on the accuracy of the 2001 Partin Tables for predicting pathologic stage of localized prostate cancer. Urology 71: 151–155

The Partin Tables, nomograms for staging prostate cancer in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy, were developed and validated in a predominantly white cohort of men. In the US, the disease characteristics of African American men who present with prostate cancer differ from those of white patients. Heath et al. have compared the accuracy of the 2001 updated Partin Tables for predicting pathologic stage in African American and white patients.

The researchers pooled data from four multiethnic cohorts of men who underwent radical prostatectomy in the US, including a total of 3,748 patients (1,188 [32%] African American, 2,560 [68%] white). The accuracy of the Partin Tables was assessed by estimating areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for each ethnic group. Accuracy did not differ significantly between African American and white men for predicting organ-confined disease (AUC 0.73 vs 0.72; P = 0.56), extracapsular extension (AUC 0.62 vs 0.62; P = 0.99) or seminal-vesicle invasion (0.77 vs 0.79; P = 0.53). The Partin Tables predicted lymph node metastasis more accurately in African American men than in white men (AUC 0.76 vs 0.65; P = 0.05).

The authors conclude that the Partin Tables perform equally well for staging prostate cancer in African American and white populations. African American patients tend to present with higher PSA levels, higher disease grade and more-advanced disease; however, once the clinical characteristics of disease are known, ethnicity is not predictive of prognosis.