(UroToday.com) We know from SEER data that black men are 1.7x more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and are 2.1x more likely to die from their prostate cancer. This is not new data, as these trends were evident in the 1950s and 1970s as well but appear to be worsening in severity. This has led to the perception that race is an independent prognostic factor associated with worse prostate cancer outcomes. This is reflected in guidelines from the AUA/ASTRO/SUO that advise counseling patients on their individualized risk of disease recurrence based on clinical factors and patient race. Thus, race is thought to be a proxy for ancestral genetics that are related to worse prostate cancer health outcomes.