Dr. Hougen on adding a coefficient for Black race to the 4Kscore

In this video, Helen Y. Hougen, MD, shares the background and findings from the study, “Adding a Coefficient for Race to the 4Kscore Improves Calibration for Black Men.” Hougen is a clinical assistant professor of cancer and urology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Video Transcript:

The 4Kscore test is a widely used blood-based biomarker model that assesses a person's risk for clinically significant prostate cancer before their prostate biopsy. The goal of this is to help us provide a more informed decision in terms of whether or not to pursue a prostate biopsy. We know Black men have a higher rate of clinically significant prostate cancer. However, Black men are also relatively underrepresented in biomarker studies. So, what we did was we examined the data of the 4Kscore test from 2 major prior studies in the US. We tried to improve upon the model by prespecifying a race coefficient for Black men. We prespecified this and wanted to validate it and test this performance in an independent cohort of about 200 Black men from a study across 8 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. When we compared the performance of the 4Kscore with and without the race coefficient, we found that this coefficient improved the calibration or accuracy of this model. We also found that it improved the clinical utility and delayed the diagnosis of clinically significant prostate cancer in fewer men than if we didn't use the race coefficient.

This transcription has been edited for clarity.