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A community-based prostate cancer screening program operated in partnership with a Philadelphia agency reached 289 men in a single event, with 253 (84.9%) self-identifying as Black, according to results published by investigators from Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and Thomas Jefferson University. Amy E. Leader, DrPH, MPH, with senior author Leonard G. Gomella, MD, and colleagues paired a mobile phlebotomist with a survey on personal and family prostate cancer history at the partner site.
The mean participant age was 57.3 years. The mean prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value was 1.82 ng/mL, and 18% of men had an abnormal result above 2.5 ng/mL. Black participants posted the highest PSA values in the cohort. Men with abnormal results received both a letter and a follow-up phone call directing them toward clinical evaluation.
The program offers managed care organizations a practical template for closing screening gaps in Black men, who carry roughly twice the prostate cancer mortality of White men and historically present at later stages. Mobile screening at community partner sites bypasses the access frictions of primary care scheduling, transportation, and insurance verification that disproportionately affect underserved populations. For health plans operating value-based contracts in Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage, and dual-eligible products, embedding similar community-based screening into community health worker programs or community organization partnerships can move quality measures, sharpen risk adjustment accuracy, and surface patients who benefit from the AUA recommendation to offer PSA screening at age 40 to 45 for Black men.
