Comparative Analysis of Breast Cancer Phenotypes in African American, White American, and West Versus East African patients: Correlation Between African Ancestry and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Recommended Citation
Jiagge E, Jibril AS, Chitale D, Bensenhaver JM, Awuah B, Hoenerhoff M, Adjei E, Bekele M, Abebe E, Nathanson SD, Gyan K, Salem B, Oppong J, Aitpillah F, Kyei I, Bonsu EO, Proctor E, Merajver SD, Wicha M, Stark A, Newman LA. Comparative Analysis of Breast Cancer Phenotypes in African American, White American, and West Versus East African patients: Correlation Between African Ancestry and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Ann Surg Oncol. 2016 Nov;23(12):3843-3849.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2016
Publication Title
Annals of surgical oncology : the official journal of the Society of Surgical Oncology
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is more common among African American (AA) and western sub-Saharan African breast cancer (BC) patients compared with White/Caucasian Americans (WA) and Europeans. Little is known about TNBC in east Africa.
METHODS: Invasive BC diagnosed 1998-2014 were evaluated: WA and AA patients from the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan; Ghanaian/west Africans from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana; and Ethiopian/east Africans from the St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2/neu expression was performed in Michigan on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples from all cases.
RESULTS: A total of 234 Ghanaian (mean age 49 years), 94 Ethiopian (mean age 43 years), 272 AA (mean age 60 years), and 321 WA (mean age 62 years; p = 0.001) patients were compared. ER-negative and TNBC were more common among Ghanaian and AA compared with WA and Ethiopian cases (frequency ER-negativity 71.1 and 37.1 % vs. 19.8 and 28.6 % respectively, p < 0.0001; frequency TNBC 53.2 and 29.8 % vs. 15.5 and 15.0 %, respectively, p < 0.0001). Among patients younger than 50 years, prevalence of TNBC remained highest among Ghanaians (50.8 %) and AA (34.3 %) compared with WA and Ethiopians (approximately 16 % in each; p = 0.0002).
CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms an association between TNBC and West African ancestry; TNBC frequency among AA patients is intermediate between WA and Ghanaian/West Africans consistent with genetic admixture following the west Africa-based trans-Atlantic slave trade. TNBC frequency was low among Ethiopians/East Africans; this may reflect less shared ancestry between AA and Ethiopians.
Medical Subject Headings
Adult; African Americans; Ethiopia; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Ghana; Humans; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; Phenotype; Prevalence; Receptor, ErbB-2; Receptors, Estrogen; Receptors, Progesterone; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms; United States
PubMed ID
27469125
Volume
23
Issue
12
First Page
3843
Last Page
3849
