Immune-function genes and racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer

Immune-function genes and racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer

See also: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotype as a contributor to racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer: a population-based, molecular epidemiologic study

Breast cancer occurrence differs among women of different racial/ethnic groups for reasons that remain unclear. This research aims to explore the relationship of breast cancer to a genetic risk factor, HLA gene type, that may help explain these differences in pre-menopausal women. Commonly studied as the inherited marker identifying organ transplant matches, HLA genes differ between racial/ethnic groups, are linked to some diseases, and can influence immune clearance of tumor cells in a way that could affect breast cancer development. This study will first attempt to learn whether particular HLA genes are more common in pre-menopausal women with breast cancer than in women without the disease. Then, because HLA gene types are known to differ subtly in whites, African-Americans and Hispanics, it will examine the relationships of HLA and breast cancer separately in each of these racial/ethnic groups.

NCCC Principal Investigator: Sally L. Glaser, Ph.D.

Co-investigators: Esther John, Ph.D.; Christina Clarke, Ph.D.

Collaborator: Henry Erlich, Ph.D., Roche Molecular Systems

Funding: California Breast Cancer Research Program, 2003-2005