Investigators seek men of African ancestry for study exploring prostate cancer risk factors

Investigators at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami are seeking men of African ancestry who have received a diagnosis of prostate cancer to enroll in the African Cancer Genome Registry (NCT05754658), which was developed to help identify factors that may increase risk of aggressive disease in this population.¹

Patients will be observed over 1 year as they undergo standard-of-care treatment.

The study will also explore the risk factors of African American women with breast cancer.

“People of African ancestry disproportionately develop aggressive, high-grade cancers, particularly in breast, endometrial, ovarian and prostate tissue, and the underlying driving factors are not well understood,” said Sophia George, PhD, in a news release on the study. George is an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida.

To this end, the goal of the study is to explore genetic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors that may cause disparities in the risk of prostate and breast cancer among Black men and women.

The prospective cohort study, conducted by the African Caribbean Consortium (AC3), alongside investigators from the University of Miami, seeks to enroll 200 patients from the South Florida region and 1800 patients from 9 international AC3 sites in the Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Namibia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Participants must be 18 to 85 years of age, self-identify as Black, and have received a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of prostate or breast cancer.

Those included in the study will “provide saliva DNA or blood samples for genetic testing, tissue samples from a surgery or procedure, and complete a questionnaire covering behavioral, nutritional, medical, family cancer history, and health-related quality-of-life information,” according to the news release.

The investigators will also collect data on tumor, staging, treatment, and other relevant information. Patients will be observed over 1 year as they undergo standard-of-care treatment for their cancer. The primary outcome measures are ER, PR, Her2, and AR status in prostate and breast tissues, germline mutations, and the overall mutational landscape.

George added, “We hope this registry helps us gain valuable insight into what triggers these diseases more often and more aggressively in African-descent populations. Once we have that knowledge, we can then focus on educational and biomedical /clinical efforts aimed at prevention and earlier diagnosis through lifesaving screenings.”

The study has an expected primary completion date of July 1, 2024.

Reference

1. Sylvester researchers, collaborators seek answers to prostate, breast cancer among people of African ancestry. News release. Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. July 10, 2023. Accessed July 13, 2023. https://www.newswise.com/articles/sylvester-researchers-collaborators-seek-answers-to-prostate-breast-cancer-among-people-of-african-ancestry?sc=mwhr&xy=10016681