Table 1.
Characteristics of men ≥75 years with incident, localized prostate cancer by risk* strata, SEER-Medicare 2004–2005.
| Characteristic | All (n = 8,323) | Low (n = 2,069) | Intermediate (n = 3,575) | High (n = 2,679) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | |
| Age (median (IQR) years | 78 (76, 82) | 77 (76, 80) | 78 (76, 81) | 80 (77, 83) | ||||
| Race | ||||||||
| White | 6766 | 81.3 | 1753 | 84.7 | 2882 | 80.6 | 2131 | 79.5 |
| Black | 786 | 9.4 | 155 | 7.5 | 339 | 9.5 | 292 | 10.9 |
| Other | 771 | 9.3 | 161 | 7.8 | 354 | 9.9 | 256 | 9.6 |
| Treatment | ||||||||
| Radical Prostatectomy | 328 | 3.9 | 67 | 3.2 | 175 | 4.9 | 86 | 3.2 |
| Brachytherapy | 963 | 11.6 | 457 | 22.1 | 397 | 11.1 | 109 | 4.1 |
| Androgen Deprivation Therapy | 2215 | 26.6 | 312 | 15.1 | 823 | 23.0 | 1080 | 40.3 |
| EBRT | 3295 | 39.6 | 657 | 31.8 | 1597 | 44.7 | 1041 | 38.9 |
| Conservative Management | 1522 | 18.3 | 576 | 27.8 | 583 | 16.3 | 363 | 13.6 |
| % Below Poverty Line† | ||||||||
| Low | 4146 | 49.8 | 1076 | 52.0 | 1781 | 49.8 | 1289 | 48.1 |
| High | 4177 | 50.2 | 993 | 48.0 | 1794 | 50.2 | 1390 | 51.9 |
| Residency | ||||||||
| Urban | 7550 | 90.7 | 1898 | 91.7 | 3249 | 90.9 | 2403 | 89.7 |
| Rural | 773 | 9.3 | 171 | 8.3 | 326 | 9.1 | 276 | 10.3 |
| Marital Status | ||||||||
| Married | 5607 | 67.4 | 1423 | 68.8 | 2445 | 68.4 | 1739 | 64.9 |
| Unmarried‡ | 1792 | 21.5 | 379 | 18.3 | 760 | 21.3 | 653 | 24.4 |
| Unknown | 924 | 11.1 | 267 | 12.9 | 370 | 10.4 | 287 | 10.7 |
| Region/ Registry City§ | ||||||||
| Greater CA + SJ | 1865 | 22.4 | 398 | 19.2 | 837 | 23.4 | 630 | 23.5 |
| LA + SF | 1232 | 14.8 | 316 | 15.3 | 556 | 15.6 | 360 | 13.4 |
| Other West | 1014 | 12.2 | 250 | 12.1 | 434 | 12.1 | 330 | 12.3 |
| South | 1470 | 17.7 | 345 | 16.7 | 642 | 18.0 | 483 | 18.0 |
| North Central | 1063 | 12.8 | 273 | 13.2 | 445 | 12.5 | 345 | 12.9 |
| Northeast | 1679 | 20.2 | 487 | 23.5 | 661 | 18.5 | 531 | 19.8 |
| PSA (ng/mL) | ||||||||
| 0.1 < 2.5 | 396 | 4.8 | 175 | 8.5 | 154 | 4.3 | 67 | 2.5 |
| 2.5 – ≤4 | 420 | 5.1 | 168 | 8.1 | 181 | 5.1 | 71 | 2.7 |
| 4 – ≤ 10 | 4141 | 49.8 | 1726 | 83.4 | 1777 | 49.7 | 638 | 23.8 |
| 10 – ≤ 20 | 1937 | 23.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1463 | 40.9 | 474 | 17.7 |
| >20 | 1429 | 17.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1429 | 53.3 |
| Gleason Score | ||||||||
| 2–6 | 3315 | 39.8 | 2069 | 100 | 953 | 26.7 | 293 | 11 |
| 7 | 3156 | 37.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2622 | 73.3 | 534 | 19.9 |
| 8–10 | 1852 | 22.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1852 | 69.1 |
| Stage | ||||||||
| T1 | 4113 | 49.4 | 1264 | 61.1 | 1692 | 47.3 | 1157 | 43.2 |
| T2 | 4210 | 50.6 | 805 | 38.9 | 1883 | 52.7 | 1522 | 56.8 |
| Charlson Co-Morbidity Score | ||||||||
| 0 | 5767 | 69.3 | 1460 | 70.6 | 2493 | 69.7 | 1814 | 67.7 |
| 1 | 1638 | 19.7 | 405 | 19.6 | 707 | 19.8 | 526 | 19.6 |
| 2+ | 918 | 11.0 | 204 | 9.9 | 375 | 10.5 | 339 | 12.7 |
Patients were categorized into three risk groups on the basis of clinical classification, PSA level and Gleason score: low-risk (T1–T2a and PSA level <10 ng/mL and Gleason score 2–6), intermediate-risk (T2b–T2c or 10 ≤ PSA ≤ 20 ng/mL or Gleason score = 7) and high-risk (≥ T3a or PSA level >20ng/mL or Gleason score 8–10).
Percent of residents living below poverty level was obtained from the 2000 Census tracts and dichotomized at the median = 6.47%.
Unmarried = Separated, Divorced, or Widowed
The Western registries were divided into three groups based on similar odds of receiving prostate cancer active therapy vs. conservative management in unadjusted analyses. Group 1: Other West = Utah, Seattle, New Mexico, and Hawaii; Group 2: Los Angeles (LA) and San Francisco (SF); and Group 3: San Jose (SJ) and Greater California (CA)
Charlson co-morbidity score was derived from Medicare claims during the year before prostate cancer diagnosis using a validated algorithm.18