Although European-American (EA) women, overall, have higher incidence of breast cancer than African-American (AA) women, AA women are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age, and to have more aggressive tumors, characterized by higher grade, higher proliferative indices, and lack of expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors. The reasons for these racial differences in breast cancer biology and age at onset are unknown, but it is possible that differential gene methylation could affect these differences in tumor biology. Furthermore, little is known regarding factors that affect gene methylation in breast cancer. Insight into predictors of gene methylation could target risk factors for aggressive breast cancer in both AA and EA women for prevention. To investigate this question, we will perform a two stage design study. In the first discovery stage, we will perform genome-wide methylation on a sample of 100 freshly frozen tissues from 100 AA and 100 EA breast cancer patients for discovery of genes that are most differentially methylated between the races and that differentiate between high and low aggressive disease. Those most significantly different by race and aggressiveness will be assessed in tissues from women participating in an on-going case-control study designed to investigate predictors of early/aggressive breast cancer in AA women. Using the Illumina GoldenGate Assay, tissues from 500 AA and 500 EA women will be evaluated to determine if methylation patterns differ between the groups. We will also determine if methylation is associated with younger age, ER status and ''triple negative'tumors. Finally, we will investigate the potential role of folate and related nutritional factors, as well as alcohol consumption in predicting methylation patterns within each group. Results from this study will provide extremely important information regarding the etiology of aggressive breast cancers, and may greatly elucidate reasons for this more lethal form of disease among AA women. Because methylation can be reversed, interrogation of these differences could identify targets for prevention and early detection, as well as for treatment. Public Health Relevance: This project will identify genes that are differentially methylated between African- American and European-American women and potential predictors of methylation patterns. As such, it could provide insight into factors related to the aggressive breast cancers observed in African-American women. Because methylation is reversible, it may also provide new directions for prevention and therapeutics.

Public Health Relevance

This project will identify genes that are differentially methylated between African- American and European-American women and potential predictors of methylation patterns. As such, it could provide insight into factors related to the aggressive breast cancers observed in African-American women. Because methylation is reversible, it may also provide new directions for prevention and therapeutics.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA133264-04
Application #
8433989
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-PSE-B (03))
Program Officer
Martin, Damali
Project Start
2010-04-01
Project End
2015-01-31
Budget Start
2013-02-01
Budget End
2015-01-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$781,546
Indirect Cost
$279,635
Name
Roswell Park Cancer Institute Corp
Department
Type
DUNS #
824771034
City
Buffalo
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14263
Gong, Zhihong; Wang, Jie; Wang, Dan et al. (2018) Differences in microRNA expression in breast cancer between women of African and European ancestry. Carcinogenesis :
Espinal, Allyson C; Wang, Dan; Yan, Li et al. (2017) A methodological study of genome-wide DNA methylation analyses using matched archival formalin-fixed paraffin embedded and fresh frozen breast tumors. Oncotarget 8:14821-14829
Espinal, Allyson C; Buas, Matthew F; Wang, Dan et al. (2017) FOXA1 hypermethylation: link between parity and ER-negative breast cancer in African American women? Breast Cancer Res Treat 166:559-568
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George, Prethibha; Chandwani, Sheenu; Gabel, Molly et al. (2015) Diagnosis and surgical delays in African American and white women with early-stage breast cancer. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 24:209-17
Goyal, Sharad; Chandwani, Sheenu; Haffty, Bruce G et al. (2015) Effect of travel distance and time to radiotherapy on likelihood of receiving mastectomy. Ann Surg Oncol 22:1095-101
Ambrosone, Christine B; Young, Allyson C; Sucheston, Lara E et al. (2014) Genome-wide methylation patterns provide insight into differences in breast tumor biology between American women of African and European ancestry. Oncotarget 5:237-48
Chandwani, Sheenu; George, Prethibha A; Azu, Michelle et al. (2014) Role of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging in the surgical management of early-stage breast cancer. Ann Surg Oncol 21:3473-80
Wang, Dan; Yan, Li; Hu, Qiang et al. (2012) IMA: an R package for high-throughput analysis of Illumina's 450K Infinium methylation data. Bioinformatics 28:729-30
Yan, Li; Ma, Changxing; Wang, Dan et al. (2012) OSAT: a tool for sample-to-batch allocations in genomics experiments. BMC Genomics 13:689

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