Race-associated biological differences among Luminal A breast tumors

• DOI: 10.1007/s10549-015-3474-4
• Publication Date: 2015-06-24T15:55:06Z
• Authors: Monica D’Arcy; Jodie Fleming; Whitney R. Robinson; Erin L. Kirk; Charles M. Perou; Melissa A. Troester
• Keywords: Adult; Gene Expression Profiling; Breast Neoplasms; Middle Aged; White People; Tumor Burden; 3. Good health; Black or African American; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Biomarkers, Tumor; Cluster Analysis; Humans; Female; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Neoplasm Grading; Aged; Proportional Hazards Models

African American (AA) women have higher breast-cancer specific mortality rates. A higher prevalence of the worse outcome Basal-like breast cancer subtype contributes to this, but AA women also have higher mortality even within the more favorable outcomes Luminal A breast cancers. These differences may reflect treatment or health care access issues, inherent biological differences, or both.