Two recently published cancer studies reveal differences in the severity of cancer (specifically breast and colorectal) between black Americans and other racial or ethnic populations are based in genetic variations. I think we should pause a moment and recognize that today is National Day, an observance popular in K-12 education to recognize the day that the research scientists at NIH completed sequencing of the human genome. The knowledge gained from that tremendous endeavor has informed the physicians and scientists is countless labs since and the current findings in the disparities between the burden of illness suffered by blacks with breast or colorectal cancer tumors is no different.
Dr. Carol Rosenberg and her colleges at Boston University School of Medicine have discovered that cancer tumors lacking genetic expression for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and HER-2 (human epidermal growth factor), so called “triple-negative” tumors were more common among black women. Specifically, their study of 415 women (36% non-Hispanic white, 43% black, 10% Hispanic, and 10% other) revealed that black women have a three times greater risk of having triple-negative breast cancer tumors as compared to non-Hispanic whites. Triple-negative phenotype tumors (which make up 15% of all invasive breast cancers) have been associated with poor prognosis and low 5-year survival rates. The implications are significant to understanding the prevalence of an increased burden of illness and death suffered by black women developing breast cancer.
