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A collaborative study of the etiology of breast cancer subtypes in African American women: the AMBER consortium

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Abstract

Purpose

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, with at least five intrinsic subtypes defined by molecular characteristics. Tumors that express the estrogen receptor (ER+) have better outcomes than ER− tumors, due in part to the success of hormonal therapies that target ER+ tumors. The incidence of ER− breast cancer, and the subset of ER− cancers that are basal-like, is about twice as high among African American (AA) women as among US women of European descent (EA). This disparity appears to explain, in part, the disproportionately high mortality from breast cancer that occurs in AA women. Epidemiologic research on breast cancer in AA women lags behind research in EA women. Here, we review differences in the etiology of breast cancer subtypes among AA women and describe a new consortium of ongoing studies of breast cancer in AA women.

Methods

We combined samples and data from four large epidemiologic studies of breast cancer in AA women, two cohort and two case-control, creating the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk consortium. Tumor tissue is obtained and stored in tissue microarrays, with assays of molecular markers carried out at a pathology core. Genotyping, carried out centrally, includes a whole exome SNP array and over 180,000 custom SNPs for fine-mapping of genome-wide association studies loci and candidate pathways.

Results

To date, questionnaire data from 5,739 breast cancer cases and 14,273 controls have been harmonized. Genotyping of the first 3,200 cases and 3,700 controls is underway, with a total of 6,000 each expected by the end of the study period.

Conclusions

The new consortium will likely have sufficient statistical power to assess potential risk factors, both genetic and non-genetic, in relation to specific subtypes of breast cancer in AA women.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the late Robert Millikan for his dedication to preventing breast cancer in African American women and for his thoughtfulness and energy in building this consortium. We also acknowledge the many AMBER consortium investigators who have contributed substantially to the inception and design of the original studies and working on the collaboration, in particular Lynn Rosenberg, Laurence Kolonel, Kathryn Lunetta, Chi-Chen Hong, Song Yao, Song Liu, Edward Ruiz-Narvaez, Traci Bethea, Patricia Coogan, Christopher Haiman, Melissa Troester, Jeannette Bensen, Nicholas Taylor, Mary Beth Bell, Patricia Basta, H. Shelton Earp, Warren Davis, Gary Zirpoli, Joseph Geradts, Wiam Bshara, Thaer Khoury, Stephanie Cohen, Gregory Ciupak, and Meghan O’Connor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, 1010 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Julie R. Palmer

  2. Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Christine B. Ambrosone

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Andrew F. Olshan

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  1. Julie R. Palmer
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  2. Christine B. Ambrosone
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  3. Andrew F. Olshan
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Correspondence to Julie R. Palmer.

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Palmer, J.R., Ambrosone, C.B. & Olshan, A.F. A collaborative study of the etiology of breast cancer subtypes in African American women: the AMBER consortium. Cancer Causes Control 25, 309–319 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0332-8

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