Addressing breast cancer disparities in women of African ancestry
Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine have created new polygenic risk score models tailored for women of African ancestry, aiming to reduce breast cancer mortality disparities through improved genetic testing and early screening strategies.
The University of Chicago Medicine is working to address breast cancer disparities for women of African ancestry, a group that has higher breast cancer mortality. Findings from their most recent study are summarized in a press release.
The University of Chicago Medicine attributes the death rate to inadequate genetic testing models. To address this, a group of scientists from the university used data from the African Ancestry Breast Cancer Genetics Consortium to develop new, personalized polygenic risk score (PRS) models. Models were engineered for overall breast cancer, estrogen receptor positive (ER+), estrogen receptor negative (ER-), and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). They were validated “in several independent datasets, including the All of Us study and three additional studies involving women of African ancestry.”
Genetic risk scores produced by the new models point to the need for earlier screening in high-risk women.
