Prostate cancer in Amazon native Indian: a case report
Abstract
Mário Maciel de Lima Junior1*, Mário Maciel de Lima2, Fabiana Granja3
Background: Prostate cancer is highly prevalent worldwide and
its incidence shows marked disparities between different
countries and races. Age, race/ethnicity, and family history are
the strongest known risk factors for this neoplasm. The aim of the
present report is to describe the clinical and prostatic
characteristics in Amazon Indian men, belonging to the
Yanomami ethnic group, which is one of the few indigenous
groups in which incidence and prevalence rates of prostate
cancer are the lowest in the world.
Case presentation: A 47-year-old native Indian male of the
Yanomami ethnic presented with obstructive voiding symptoms
including intermittency, hesitancy and sensation of incomplete
bladder emptying. He was not on medication and was otherwise
in good health. Physical examination revealed normal genitalia;
no hernias. Digital rectal exam showed 25 g prostate without
nodularity. Urinalysis revealed parameters within clinically
normal ranges.
Conclusion: Though the incidence and prevalence of prostate
cancer is the lowest among native American Indians, the novelty
of the presented case lies less in the case being an incidence of
prostate cancer, than in the case being diagnosed with the
disease. It might be difficult for these indigenous people, leaving
in a knit community with strong cultural beliefs, to travel to a
diagnostic centre far away from the village, in a strange and
perceivably intimidating environment. Nonetheless, the case
definitely emphasizes that the cases of prostate cancer might be
under-reported in these areas, due to socio-economic and
geographical difficulties, and difficulty in accessing healthcare
facilities, making diagnosis – and not incidence – rare.
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