Finally getting some answers….
Researchers launched a new study to find the reasoning behind a rise in Black women being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Through these findings, researchers were able to gather genetic data for specific variations that were closely related to breast cancer, coming up with two key ideas.
Twelve loci, also known as locations in the genome, showed a significant association with breast cancer. The team went further to identify variants of three genes that seemingly correlate to a risk increase of triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive subtypes.
Since most people have two copies or alleles of each gene, it’s likely someone could have anywhere between one and six risk-related alleles of these three genes. Study participants who had all six risk-related alleles had approximately double the chance of getting triple-negative breast cancer over those with three.
The good news is the revelations can help scientists and medical professionals predict who is prone to have this aggressive form of breast cancer, as well as a chance to understand better the biology of triple-negative breast cancer with genes being in the spotlight. “Finally, we have enough data to drill down to estrogen-negative and triple-negative breast cancer, which are twice as common in the African American population as any other population,” fellow study author and cancer researcher at Boston University Julie Palmer said.
The other variation was found after researchers used the same data to build a breast cancer risk prediction model for Black people, taking a look at different genetic variants that can add greater breast cancer risks.
Similar studies are being conducted by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Their study, Voices of Black Women, according to ABC News, aims to uncover why Black women have increasingly high rates of cancer. Launched on May 7, the study is being labeled as the largest-ever study of cancer risk and outcomes in Black women in the United States.
Black women are twice as likely to die of a breast cancer diagnosis than white women.
Source: Black Enterprise
