Ethnogenetic layering to link and predict African American breast cancer patient outcomes with specific African origins

Abstract

Cancer is a dramatic case of multilevel selection that is highly influenced by an individual's genetic and epigenetic background. The high frequency of aggressive, early onset and highly fatal breast cancer among African American women suggests that there may be a contributing ancestral component. Using ethnogenetic layering (EL) we have integrated social/cultural/abiotic/biotic environmental data with that of genetic/epigenetic and clinical data to identify subgroups of African Americans at risk for particular kinds of breast cancer. We have also used this technique to identify the relevant West and West Central African microethnic groups that may be the sources of relevant polymorphisms contributing to breast cancer etiologies in specific US regions.