Inherited risk of early-onset cancer is higher among minority families


Date:
June 22, 2021
Source:
Keck School of Medicine of USC
Summary:
A new study shows inherited risk of early-onset cancer is
significantly higher among Latino and African American families
for solid tumors, and Asian/Pacific Islander families for
blood-based cancers, compared to non- Latino white families in
California. Researchers used California population-based health
registries to evaluate the relative cancer risk among first-degree
relatives of patients diagnosed with cancer by the age of 26. This
study demonstrates the need for increased scrutiny on familial
cancer clustering in minority populations.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Increased risk of cancer due to a genetic predisposition in first- and
second- degree relatives is long-established but has previously only
been studied in white or European populations.


==========================================================================
Now, a new study published ineLife is the first to demonstrate that
the inherited risk of early-onset cancer is significantly higher among
Latino and African American families for solid tumors, and Asian/Pacific Islander families for blood-based cancers, compared to non-Latino white families in California.

"Cancer clustering within families, meaning the devastating diagnosis
of more than one early-onset cancer within the same family, usually
points to a genetic cause. Interestingly, family cancer clustering
has only been examined previously at the population level in white, or
European origin population studies," says study author Joseph Wiemels,
PhD, a member of the Cancer Epidemiology Program at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and professor of Preventive Medicine at the
Keck School of Medicine of USC. "In this study, we looked at clustering
of cancer cases in young family members in California over the past 30
years within non-white populations and compared it, for the first time,
to white populations. We found that family-based cancer clustering
occurs more frequently among minority populations." Researchers used California population-based health registries to evaluate the relative
cancer risk among parents, siblings and children of patients diagnosed
with cancer by the age of 26. Between 1989 and 2015, they identified
29,632 early-onset cancer patients and then examined cancer incidence
in 62,863 healthy family members. They found that overall, mothers and
siblings of those cancer patients had a higher relative risk of early
onset cancer. But when they looked at the role of race and ethnicity
in genetic predisposition, they found that for patients with solid
tumors, the familial cancer risk was significantly higher for Latino
and non-Latino Black mothers and siblings compared to non- Latino
white families. Asian/Pacific Islanders had a higher familial risk for blood-based cancers compared to non-Latino whites.

This study demonstrates the need for increased scrutiny on familial
cancer clustering in minority populations. This information could help
health care providers and genetic counselors offer more precision-based
care and advice, particularly in the multiethnic populations that reside
in Los Angeles County.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Keck_School_of_Medicine_of_USC. Original written by Hinde R Kast. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Qianxi Feng, Eric Nickels, Ivo S Muskens, Adam J de Smith, W James
Gauderman, Amy C Yee, Charite Ricker, Thomas Mack, Andrew D
Leavitt, Lucy A Godley, Joseph L Wiemels. Increased burden
of familial-associated early-onset cancer risk among minority
Americans compared to non-Latino Whites. eLife, 2021; 10 DOI:
10.7554/eLife.64793 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210622123319.htm

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