A translational epidemiologic study of genetic ancestry found an association between West African (WA) ancestry, low neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), and higher rates of aggressive breast cancer subtypes (TNBC). The findings were reported in Annals of Surgery.
In this study, researchers conducted a gene analysis on blood samples from a group of 308 stage I-IV Hispanic white, non-Hispanic white, Hispanic black, and non-Hispanic black women with breast cancer (BC). They used multinomial logistic regression to discern any links between age, stage, genetic ancestry, and nSES on rates of TNBC compared with other BC subtypes.
The researchers found a marked correlation between increasing WA ancestry and odds of TNBC. The findings also demonstrated an inverse association between higher nSES and TNBC. Notably, WA ancestry was observed to be a significant factor linked with TNBC even after adjusting for patient age and tumor stage, but not when adjusting for nSES.
The investigators concluded these results underline the complexity of TNBC and the importance of studying gene-environment interactions as disease drivers.
Reference: Goel N, Yadegarynia S, Kwon D, et al. Dissecting the Interplay Between Genetic Ancestry and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status on Triple Negative Breast Cancer [published online ahead of print, 2022 Jun 27]. Ann Surg. 2022;10.1097/SLA.0000000000005554. doi:10.1097/SLA.0000000000005554
