Male Oncology Research and Education Program for Men at High Risk for Prostate Cancer

Three groups of men are at high risk of developing prostate cancer: men with a strong family history of prostate cancer, men of West African or Caribbean ancestry, and men with a germline pathogenic variant in a prostate cancer–associated gene. Despite the fact that those men constitute a significant portion of the male population in North America, few recommendations for prostate cancer screening specific to them have been developed. For men at general population risk for prostate cancer, screening based on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has remained controversial despite the abundance of literature on the topic. As a result, recommendations made by major screening authorities are inconsistent (ranging from no psa screening to baseline PSA screening at age 45), allowing physicians to pick and choose how to screen their patients. The Male Oncology Research and Education (more) program is an observational research program that serves as an academic platform for multiple research foci. For its participants, serum and dna are biobanked, medical information is collected, and contact for relevant research-related opportunities is maintained. This research program is paired with a specialized clinic called the more clinic, where men at high risk are regularly screened for prostate cancer in a standard approach that includes physical examination and serum psa measurement. In this article, we describe the goals, participant accrual to date, and projects specific to this unique program.