A large-scale Medicare study has revealed persistent racial and geographic disparities in access to advanced imaging for prostate cancer, with Black men significantly less likely to undergo key diagnostic procedures such as MRI and PET scans compared to their White counterparts.
The study, published in The Prostate, analyzed Medicare insurance claims from 749,202 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2019 and 2023. The patient cohort was predominantly White (84%), followed by Black men (8.7%), individuals of other races (4.1%), and those with unspecified race or ethnicity (3.2%).
According to the findings, Black men were 16% less likely to receive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 13% less likely to undergo positron emission tomography (PET) scans than White men. These diagnostic tools are critical for accurately staging the disease and informing treatment decisions.
“Given that Black men are disproportionately diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer, where advanced imaging is especially critical, our findings point to a troubling racial gap in access to care,” said lead author Dr. Hanna Zurl of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
The study also found regional disparities tied to geography. Men living in urban areas were 15% less likely to receive prostate MRI and 11% less likely to receive PET scans compared to those in metropolitan regions. The disparities were even more pronounced for rural residents, who were 20% less likely to receive MRI and 17% less likely to undergo PET imaging.
Despite overall improvements in imaging access—men were nearly five times more likely to receive PET imaging for prostate cancer in 2023 than in 2019—the uneven distribution of this progress raises concerns.
“While technological advances offer the promise of better diagnostics and outcomes, unequal access risks deepening existing racial and sociodemographic health disparities,” the authors emphasized.
The findings underscore the urgent need for equitable access to emerging diagnostic technologies, especially in vulnerable populations who may face higher cancer-related risks.
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