The objectives
of iCCaRE

Summary

Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men globally with the preponderance of the death occurring among African American, Central American, Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan African men.  Although several factors account for this, studies have demonstrated that the adaptive constitutive biological factors associated with African ancestry contribute to the risk of disease development, disease aggression, and poor disease outcomes in Black men. Beyond this recognized White-Black dichotomous disparity, there also exists within-group geographical and ancestral disparities in the burden of prostate cancer among Black men globally. It is therefore imperative to understand how differences in biology and environment influence the risk, outcome, and survivorship experience of Black prostate survivors globally. 

Furthermore, besides urological and sexual problems, survivorship experience of prostate cancer is accompanied by poor mental health. It has been estimated that up to 50% of prostate cancer survivors experience poor mental health, with a concomitant reduction in the quality of life and overall survival. Therefore, improving the overall well-being of prostate cancer survivors requires an understanding of the pattern and etiology of their poor mental health.

Hence, the goal of the iCCaRE for Black men consortium pilot project 5 is to comprehensively study the role of biology in the phenotypic heterogeneity of mental health among ethnically and geographically diverse Black prostate cancer survivors. This goal will be achieved with two specific aims, viz:

• Investigating the Psychoneurological symptom cluster classes in our cohort of ethnically diverse Black prostate cancer survivors and establishing the associations between classes of this cluster and health-related quality of life. 
• Estimating the biomarkers of inflammation, as well as the levels of cellular and psycho/social stress within a cohort of ethnically diverse Black PCa survivors. 

Overall, this project will help us elucidate the interplay between biological and social determinants of health in modulating the prostate cancer risk and survivorship experience of ethnically diverse Black men.