Abstract B33: Differential responses of Caucasian and African American breast cancer cell lines after EGCG and sulforaphane treatment

Abstract

Abstract Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among American women. African American (AA) women are more likely to die from breast cancer than their Caucasian (CAU), Hispanic, Asian and Native American counterparts revealing a clear disparity between AA women and women of other races and ethnicities. Data collected by The American Cancer Society and others reveal that although AA women have a lower incidence of breast cancer than CAU women, AA women tend to have larger, more aggressive tumors, and have a lower 5-year survival rate. Importantly, AA women are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other ethnic group. While socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors are thought to contribute to these disparities, little is known as to whether biological differences exist between CAU and AA women with breast cancer. To determine the effects of bioactive dietary compounds, (–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), found in green tea, and sulforaphane (SFN), found in broccoli, were administered to breast cancer cells derived from AA and CAU women. Our results reveal that the AA breast cancer cells showed dissimilarities in response to ECGG and SFN treatments when compared to CAU cell lines. Additionally, differential expression of several cancer related genes, including the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (hTERT), was seen in AA cells when compared to CAU cells. These data support the hypothesis that biological differences may contribute to the disparity among AA and CAU women with breast cancer and that these variations may be influenced by diet. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(10 Suppl):B33.