Unfortunately, cancer is not a level playing field. Different races, ethnicities, socioeconomic classes, genders and sexual orientations can be adversely affected compared to their counterparts. It’s not right, and the V Foundation for Cancer Research has made a commitment to battle these disparities.
One researcher dedicated to seeking change is Neha Goel, M.D. Dr. Goel, a 2022 Designated Early Career grantee funded in conjunction with the Miami Dolphins Foundation, and the team at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami, Florida, have expanded the work done on focusing on disparities in cancer research, specifically into Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). As stated in their recent publication, Dr. Goel’s team examined the impact of contextual factors, such as neighborhood-level income, on cancer incidence in diverse populations.
“Disparities in breast cancer outcomes have been a longstanding and persistent challenge,” Dr. Goel said in an earlier interview with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Although advances in screening, detection, diagnosis and treatment have improved overall breast cancer outcomes, well documented socioeconomic and racial-ethnic disparities exist.”
The discoveries listed in her recent publication were striking, with two primary takeaways. First, living in a low-income neighborhood is associated with an increased odds of TNBC, particularly in non-Hispanic Black individuals. Second, non-Hispanic Black individuals living in low-income neighborhoods had increased odds of TNBC compared with non-Hispanic Black individuals living in high-income neighborhoods.
These results demonstrate that environment and income status play factors that contribute to the disposition of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.
“These striking disparities across racial groups and within ethnic cohorts has led our group to corroborate these disparate findings at the genomic level through the lenses of genetic ancestry,” Dr. Goel said. “Using these advanced genomics approaches, we aim to tackle these disparities head on to improve breast cancer outcomes for all of our patients.”
The original interview done by Dr. Goel was conducted by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and can be found here.
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