Breast cancer disparities: high-risk breast cancer and African ancestry

Lisa A Newman

doi:10.1016/j.soc.2014.03.014

Breast cancer disparities: high-risk breast cancer and African ancestry

Surg Oncol Clin N Am. 2014 Jul;23(3):579-92. doi: 10.1016/j.soc.2014.03.014.

Author

Lisa A Newman¹

Affiliation

¹ Breast Care Center, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48167, USA. Electronic address: lanewman@umich.edu.

PMID: 24882352
DOI: 10.1016/j.soc.2014.03.014

Abstract

African American women have a lower lifetime incidence of breast cancer than white/Caucasian Americans yet have a higher risk of breast cancer mortality. African American women are also more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer at young ages, and they have higher risk for the biologically more aggressive triple-negative breast cancers. These features are also more common among women from western, sub-Saharan Africa who share ancestry with African Americans, and this prompts questions regarding an association between African ancestry and inherited susceptibility for certain patterns of mammary carcinogenesis.

Keywords: African American; African ancestry; Breast cancer disparities; Breast cancer subtypes; Triple-negative breast cancer.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Black People
Black or African American
Breast Neoplasms / epidemiology
Breast Neoplasms / ethnology*
Breast Neoplasms / genetics*
Female
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Health Status Disparities*
Humans
Incidence
Male
Socioeconomic Factors
White People