The Prostate Cancer Transatlantic Consortium (CAPTC) has called for more investment in early detection, Africa-based clinical trials and survivor support as the burden of prostate cancer continues to rise across the continent.
Researchers, clinicians and survivors under the CAPTC network raised these concerns on Friday in Lagos at the consortium’s 20th anniversary.
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Despite two decades of global collaboration, CAPTC noted that African men remain disproportionately affected by prostate cancer, describing it as a “silent killer” that devastates families when detected late.
In her remarks, a haematology and oncology expert at the Mayo Clinic, Folakemi Odedina, a professor, said African men are still far more likely to be diagnosed late and die from the disease than their counterparts in Europe or North America.
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“Behind every statistic is a family shattered. That is why we cannot relent,” said Mrs Odedina.
Late diagnosis, research
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in sub-Saharan Africa, with rising incidence and mortality.
Yet screening, awareness, and treatment remain limited.
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Mrs Odedina said the next frontier is grooming CAPTC’s “Next Generation”, the young African scientists, clinicians and advocates who will sustain the mission.
“Our goal is formidable — to eradicate prostate cancer in men of African ancestry. It will take research, policy and community action working hand in hand,” she said.
She said the cost of inaction is measured in lives lost
She explained that CAPTC has attracted over $50 million in funding to support research and publications. While celebrating those achievements, she said the consortium is also planning for the next 20 years.
“We need to inform men about prostate cancer. What we do know is that if a man gets diagnosed early, we can treat that and that person can be cured. So education is the key.
“The second thing is that when a person is diagnosed with prostate cancer, we need better treatment. Treatments that necessarily work in the Western world do not always fit in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We need to make sure that we are tailoring the strategies and interventions, and that the community is supporting these individuals so that we can change the tide. This is doable if we come together, and that is what CAPTC is about,” she added.
Need for tailored treatment
Another CAPTC member, Ebenezer Nkom, a consultant surgeon, said the tragedy is that too many men in Africa present only when it is too late.
“It is a silent killer of men of a particular age group. When the man goes, the family scatters. But if you get it early, the chances of a cure are real,” he said.
Solomon Rotimi, a professor at Covenant University, identified the lack of Africa-based clinical trials as one of the continent’s biggest challenges.
Mr Rotimi said most cancer drugs are tested in Europe and America, raising questions about their effectiveness in African populations with different genetics, diets and environments.
“You cannot enter your house through another man’s gate. Our men need treatments tested here, not borrowed results from elsewhere.”
Mr Rotimi, who coordinates CAPTC’s African investigators, explained that drugs tested abroad cannot simply be imported without considering local realities.
“If you develop a drug in Europe and test it ‘after a meal’, that meal may be a cup of coffee and a slice of bread. But in Nigeria, when you say ‘after a meal’, a man may be swallowing the drug with a mound of amala or pounded yams. The outcomes will not be the same,” he said.
He added that this is one reason some drugs, including certain anti-malaria treatments, do not work in Africa as effectively as reported elsewhere.
Mr Rotimi welcomed Nigeria’s recent policy shift encouraging clinical trials, but said local realities must guide treatments. He cited diet and lifestyle differences as examples.
“Our ancestors lived outdoors and got enough sun, but today’s lifestyle leaves many men vitamin D deficient,” he said.
“Vitamin D is not just a vitamin — it’s a hormone that strengthens the immune system. If it is low, the body becomes vulnerable to diseases, including prostate cancer. Men must know their vitamin D levels and take supplements if needed.”
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He said CAPTC has begun to bridge the gap by pioneering investigator-led trials in Nigeria and sequencing the genomes of men of African ancestry, discoveries that have led to tailored therapies now influencing global practice.
Breaking the stigma
At the event, a prostate cancer survivor, Ayinde Yahaya, a 73-year-old retired soldier, said he has turned his diagnosis into advocacy.
“When I learned I had prostate cancer, I accepted my fate. But joining CAPTC turned me into an advocate. I organised free tests for over 300 people in my community. That is how we break the stigma and save lives,” he said.
In his keynote address, Clayton Yate, a professor from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, praised CAPTC’s role in tackling disparities but warned that more must be done.
“CAPTC established the first prostate cancer genome sequencing for African American men. That has changed therapies. But the work is far from finished. Unless access improves, too many African men will continue to die needlessly,” Mr Yate said.
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