THE IMPACT OF TRANSRECTAL ULTRASOUND ON STAGE - MIGRATION IN A PREDOMINANTLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION

An important question left unanswered is whether transrectal ultrasoun d will result in earlier diagnosis in African Americans. Tumor registr y data for 1985 and 1990 for a predominantly African-American populati on were reviewed to determine whether transrectal ultrasound influence d the stage at diagnosis of prostate cancer, Diagnosis by ultrasound i ncreased from 0% to 60% of cases in those 5 years, Curable diseases (s tages A and B) increased from 38% to 57% of cases. It is concluded tha t transrectal ultrasound can increase the diagnostic yield of potentia lly curable disease in a predominantly African-American population.