Understanding the Science Behind Racial Disparities in Lung Cancer Incidence

该项目有4条调查主线。首先，我们目前正在对欧洲裔美国人和非裔美国人的肺癌组织进行全面的分子分析，包括microRNA、编码基因表达、遗传学和甲基化。这些分析的目标是了解非裔美国人和欧洲裔美国人的肺癌是否存在肿瘤生物学上的差异。了解这些差异可以为病因、预防和新的治疗方法提供线索。此外，该项目的一个主要目标是了解与非裔美国人肺癌发病率特别相关的基因位点背后的生物学。这项工作是从美国国家癌症研究所领导的非裔美国人肺癌的全球癌症研究延伸而来的。第三，根据以前的文献表明，非洲裔美国人和欧洲裔美国人的细胞因子谱不同，而欧洲裔美国人正在进行的工作表明，细胞因子谱是非常有希望的风险、诊断和预后生物标志物，我们正在调查特定的炎性细胞因子谱是否也与欧洲裔美国人肺癌的诊断和预后有关。最后，由于非洲裔美国人和欧洲裔美国人肺癌发病率的差异主要是在男性中观察到的，我们也在对病例和对照中的荷尔蒙差异进行初步分析，以探索这第四个角度是导致种族差异的一个因素。

This project has 4 main lines of investigation. Firstly, we are currently undertaking a comprehensive molecular analysis of lung cancer tissues from European Americans and African Americans, including microRNA, coding gene expression, genetics and methylation. The goal of these analyses are to understand whether differences in tumor biology exist in lung cancers from African Americans and European Americans. Understanding such differences could provide clues for etiology, prevention and new treatments. In addition, a major goal of this project is to understand the biology behind genetic loci specifically associated with lung cancer incidence in African Americans. This work extends from an NCI-led GWAS of lung cancer in African Americans. Thirdly, based on previous literature suggesting that the cytokine profile is different in African Americans and European Americans, and ongoing work in European Americans showing that cytokine profiles are very promising risk, diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, we are investigating whether a specific inflammatory cytokine profile is also associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer in European Americans. Finally, as the disparity in lung cancer incidence between African Americans and European Americans is primarily observed among men, we are also conducting a preliminary analysis of hormonal differences in cases and controls to explore this fourth angle as a contributing factor to racial disparities.