Dr. Rayford on the Racial Genomics of Prostate Cancer

Walter Rayford, MD, PhD, MBA, a urologic oncologist with the Urology Group and associate professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee West Cancer Center, discusses the racial genomics of prostate cancer.

Prolaris is a commercially available cell-cycle progression tool that Rayford and his colleagues have used to stratify patients—particularly African-American patients—with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. By using this tool, physicians are better able to select patients who are eligible for active surveillance and those who need definitive treatment.

Another tool made available through GenomeDx looks at several genes expressed in prostate cancer. The grid accounts for over 40,000 genes. By using this tool in studies, Rayford and colleagues were able to identify which treatment strategy would be best suited for each patient. Collectively, these tools have led physicians to believe that although African-American and Caucasian patients have very similar clinical presentations, the mechanism of their prostate cancer can be very different, says Rayford.