Researchers create largest genomic profile of African American women with breast cancer

Led by a team from Buffalo, N.Y.-based Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, researchers have created the largest and most detailed profile of genetic mutations found in African American women with triple-negative breast cancer. 

The team’s study was published Aug. 26 in Nature Genetics. 

The deadliest form of breast cancer, triple-negative breast cancer has “disproportionately” affected African American women, though the demographic has been underrepresented in genomic studies, according to an Aug. 26 news release from the cancer center. 

The Roswell Park team partnered with researchers from Duarte, Calif.-based City of Hope, Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and Boston University, to create the mutational profile from the samples of 462 African American women with triple-negative breast cancer.

The study found that African American women’s genomic profile was “largely similar” to the profiles of Asian American and non-Hispanic white women, meaning there is no evidence to associate triple-negative breast cancer incidence with African ancestry.

“The researchers also identified two main pathways of disease development in this population,” the release said. “One, occurring more often in younger patients, is related to genetic predisposition and faulty DNA damage repair; the other, found more often in older patients, is related to aging and the effects of obesity.” 

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