In 2005, there were an estimated 30,770 new cases of prostate cancer and more than 5,050 prostate cancer deaths in U.S. black men, thereby making prostate cancer their number one cause of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death. Black men have more than twice the mortality rate as whites and three times the mortality as ethnic Hispanic/Latinos. This proposal is for the development, implementation, and evaluation of a series of regional conferences under the direction of the National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer III Community Networks Program (NBLIC III). The black men's prostate cancer conferences, titled """"""""A Black Man Can...Fight Prostate Cancer"""""""", are designed to increase the lay public's knowledge and awareness of the disproportionate burden of prostate cancer in black males in the United States (U.S.). ? ? To achieve the conference aims, we have developed a conference agenda that provides conference attendees with information and strategies aimed at addressing prostate cancer disparities in blacks. The conferences will: [1] expose attendees to the latest information related to prostate cancer risk and outcomes and its relationship to race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, as well as cancer-related technologies, cancer research findings relevant to black males, social support resources, and available treatment options; [2] discuss barriers to recruiting black males into prostate cancer prevention and intervention clinical trials; [3] describe effective lifestyle behaviors that may be used to decrease prostate cancer risk, and [4] present strategies to engage the black community in building a cadre of persons who can provide cancer information and social support to prostate cancer survivors. ? ? ? ?
