Molecular and Cellular Factors Associated with Racial Disparity in Breast Cancer

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2020-08, Vol.21 (16), p.5936
• Main Authors: Charan, Manish, Verma, Ajeet K, Hussain, Shahid, Misri, Swati, Mishra, Sanjay, Majumder, Sarmila, Ramaswamy, Bhuvaneswari, Ahirwar, Dinesh, Ganju, Ramesh K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: African Americans - genetics; African Americans - statistics & numerical data; Angiogenesis; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - epidemiology; Breast Neoplasms - ethnology; Breast Neoplasms - genetics; Chemokines; Cytokines; Epigenesis, Genetic; Female; Gene expression; Genetic engineering; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Growth factors; Humans; immune cells; Immune system; Inequality; Lymphocytes; Metastases; Metastasis; Minority & ethnic groups; Mortality; Mutation; Patients; Prognosis; Race; Race Factors; racial disparity; Recruitment; Review; tumor microenvironment; Tumors; United States; Womens health
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms21165936

Recent studies have demonstrated that racial differences can influence breast cancer incidence and survival rate. African American (AA) women are at two to three fold higher risk for breast cancer than other ethnic groups. AA women with aggressive breast cancers show worse prognoses and higher mortality rates relative to Caucasian (CA) women. Over the last few years, effective treatment strategies have reduced mortality from breast cancer. Unfortunately, the breast cancer mortality rate among AA women remains higher compared to their CA counterparts. The focus of this review is to underscore the racial differences and differential regulation/expression of genetic signatures in CA and AA women with breast cancer. Moreover, immune cell infiltration significantly affects the clinical outcome of breast cancer. Here, we have reviewed recent findings on immune cell recruitment in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and documented its association with breast cancer racial disparity. In addition, we have extensively discussed the role of cytokines, chemokines, and other cell signaling molecules among AA and CA breast cancer patients. Furthermore, we have also reviewed the distinct genetic and epigenetic changes in AA and CA patients. Overall, this review article encompasses various molecular and cellular factors associated with breast cancer disparity that affects mortality and clinical outcome.