1. Breast Cancer and African Ancestry: Lessons Learned at the 10-Year Anniversary of the Ghana-Michigan Research Partnership and International Breast Registry
- Author
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Osei Owusu-Afriyie, Max S. Wicha, Baffour Awuah, Karen Eubanks Jackson, Beatrice Antwi, Kofi Gyan, Marian Akpaloo, Emmanuel Amankwaa-Frempong, Lisa A. Newman, Amma Gyamfuah, Zainab Alhassan, Celina G. Kleer, Ernest Osei-Bonsu, Michael Ohene-Yeboah, Kathy A. Toy, Dorcas Acheampong, Joseph K. Oppong, Evelyn Jiagge, Barbara Salem, Azadeh Stark, Faustina Obeng Agyeman, Francis Aitpillah, Ernest Adjei, Ishmael Kyei, Francis A. Abantanga, Robert Newman Brewer, Timothy R.B. Johnson, Linda Ahenkorah Fondjo, Sofia D. Merajver, Jessica Bensenhaver, and Judy C. Pang
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Gerontology ,Cancer Research ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Epidemiology ,Population ,education ,Ethnic group ,MEDLINE ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Breast cancer ,parasitic diseases ,Medicine ,education.field_of_study ,business.industry ,Incidence (epidemiology) ,Cancer ,medicine.disease ,030104 developmental biology ,Increased risk ,Oncology ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,General partnership ,Family medicine ,Special Articles ,business - Abstract
Women with African ancestry in western, sub-Saharan Africa and in the United States represent a population subset facing an increased risk of being diagnosed with biologically aggressive phenotypes of breast cancer that are negative for the estrogen receptor, the progesterone receptor, and the HER2/neu marker. These tumors are commonly referred to as triple-negative breast cancer. Disparities in breast cancer incidence and outcome related to racial or ethnic identity motivated the establishment of the International Breast Registry, on the basis of partnerships between the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan. This research collaborative has featured educational training programs as well as scientific investigations related to the comparative biology of breast cancer in Ghanaian African, African American, and white/European American patients. Currently, the International Breast Registry has expanded to include African American patients throughout the United States by partnering with the Sisters Network (a national African American breast cancer survivors’ organization) and additional sites in Ghana (representing West Africa) as well as Ethiopia (representing East Africa). Its activities are now coordinated through the Henry Ford Health System International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes. Herein, we review the history and results of this international program at its 10-year anniversary.
- Published
- 2017