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Dr. Powell is investigating the incidence of prostate cancer among black men. |
Isaac Powell, MD, associate professor of urology, has been named a principal investigator for a federal study of the causes of prostate cancer in black men. Funded with $800,000 by the National Cancer Institute and the Human Genome Project, the study will be conducted in Detroit and at six other sites around the country. Dr. Powell will be responsible for $571,000 in grant funds.
The study will examine whether the high death rates from prostate cancer among black men is due to late diagnosis or more aggressive development of the disease. Black men are twice as likely as other groups to develop a hereditary form of prostate cancer; their death rate from the disease is two to three times higher than that of white men.
Led by black researchers, the study seeks black families in which at least three men have the disease, and at least one of those three is under age 65. It is intended to confirm the results of a recent Johns Hopkins study.
"The gene for hereditary prostate cancer has been identified," Dr. Powell said. "We might be able to prevent the cancer in 15 to 20 percent of families that have the gene."
Dr. Powell, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January 1997, has been out in the community spreading the word about the study. The Detroit Free Press featured a story about his recent visit to the Hartford Memorial Baptists Church, and about the study, on the front page of the March 2 edition.
Dr. Powell’s involvement with prostate cancer issues among black men is long-standing. With funding from the Michigan Department of Public Health, he put together a cadre of health professionals from African-American churches who work together to convince black men that they needed to be screened for prostate cancer.
Thanks to Dr. Powell’s efforts, WSU has the largest clinical population of black males in the country in its treatment and research programs.