Abstract 1355: Biospecimen preferences of African-American cancer survivors for cancer genetic research.

Abstract

Abstract Background: Research based on large population-based biobanks has potential to ameliorate health disparities attributed to biological and genetic differences. Study goals were to identify associations of cancer survivors’ sample preferences with sociodemographic characteristics and familiarity with genetic research and testing. Methods: Information was analyzed on a convenience sample of 158 adult African-American breast, colon or prostate cancer survivors who expressed a willingness to provide a biospecimen for cancer genetic research. Information was collected from a self-directed instrument that measured: 1) demographics, 2)familiarity with genetic research and testing, and 3)willingness to provide a variety of sample types. Descriptive statistics and bivariate chi-square analyses were utilized. Results: Sample preference variation (N=158) consisted of: 65%, 62% and 18% willing to donate blood, saliva and tissue, respectively. One third (n= 53) endorsed willingness to provide only one form of biological sample (blood, saliva, or tissue). Significant associations were detected between willingness to provide tissue and individuals < 50 years of age (p=0.04). Sample preferences were not otherwise related to age at cancer diagnosis, gender, income, educational status, or familiarity with genetic testing or genetic research. Conclusions/Impact: Providing options of acceptable biological sample types may yield increased donation from minorities. Inadvertently, this may introduce quality control challenges in obtaining sufficient or multiple forms of biological samples. Identifying additional predictive factors for samples preferences may lead to improvements in methods used to obtain biospecimens from minority populations. Citation Format: Altovise T. Ewing, Lori AH Erby, Luisel J. Ricks-Santi, Nnenna Kalu, Denise M. Scott. Biospecimen preferences of African-American cancer survivors for cancer genetic research. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1355. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1355 Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.