Genetic Susceptibility And The Environment In Cancer Risk

National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences

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Abstract

Over the past year we have published a large set of papers as part of international consortia on both breast cancer and prostate cancer. Informative polymorphisms can be combined to predict risk of developing breast or prostate cancer. These disease-specific polygenetic risk scores (PRS) have been largely developed in populations of European origin but their suitability for risk stratification in African-American and other ethnic has not been carefully examined. Although the risk of developing breast cancer is lower in African American women, mortality rates for women who develop the disease is higher. African American men have both higher risk of developing prostate cancer, and higher mortality from the disease. With our consortia colleagues, we published two papers examining PRS and breast cancer risk in African Americans and one paper examining an African-American PRS for prostate cancer. In a series of consortia-based publications we have also examined the role of rare inherited pathogenic variants and copy number variants on both breast and prostate cancer risk; examined the relationship between common variants and tumor subtypes, and age of onset. Finally, in NIEHS studies lead by Drs. OBrien and Sandler, we have shown that vitamin D may protect women against breast cancer, including women in racial/ethnic groups with lower average circulating levels of the vitamin. We also show that although vitamin D supplements are less frequently used by African American/Black women, recent use of such supplements is associated with lower breast cancer risk.