Gastounioti Investigates Genetic Mechanisms of Breast Density Among Black Women
Aimilia Gastonuioti, PhD, and colleagues published “Genome-Wide Association Study of Breast Density among Women of African Ancestry,” which appeared in Cancers. The paper was a collaborative effort with scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, University of Pennsylvania and Spelman College.
In the U.S., Black women are disproportionately affected by higher breast cancer mortality rates and later-stage tumor diagnoses, and little is known about the influence of common breast density genetic variants in women of African ancestry compared to their European counterparts. The study aimed to determine genetic factors associated with breast density in Black women using genomic data available through the Penn Medicine BioBank in the hope of yielding potential genetic mechanisms associated with breast density, and thus cancer risk, among Black women.