2023 Bayer-PCF Health Equity Research Award

Impact of Genetic Ancestry and DNA Methylation on Prostate Cancer in African and African American Patients

Principal Investigator: Brian Joyce, PhD (Northwestern University)

Young Investigators: Zequn Sun, PhD (Northwestern University)

Co-Investigators: Adam Murphy, MD (Northwestern University), Mamoudou Maiga, MD, PhD (Northwestern University), Lifang Hou, PhD, MD (Northwestern University)

Description:

  • Prostate cancer disparities are the highest cancer disparity in the US, with Black individuals facing significantly higher incidence and mortality rates than White individuals, as well as a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with more aggressive prostate cancer and at younger ages.
  • Better understandings of the factors that drive racial disparities in prostate cancer will aid int eh development of improved and equitable prostate cancer screening and treatment approaches.
  • DNA methylation is a chemical modification to DNA that can be altered in response to environmental, lifestyle, and sociocultural factors, and regulates gene expression. DNA methylation has been identified as a potential biomarker of prostate cancer and is associated with racial disparities. However, Black populations have been underrepresented in prostate cancer genomic and molecular studies.
  • In this project, Dr. Brian Joyce and team will investigate whether differences in DNA methylation from patient samples can predict prostate cancer risk and outcomes, and whether these features contribute to prostate cancer racial disparities.
  • The team will profile and compare DNA methylation in samples from African American and West African patients, and determine modification effects by percentage of West African ancestry and by specific West African ancestry subgroups.
  • This data will be used to data to construct an ancestry-specific prostate cancer risk calculator and examine its predictive utility.
  • If successful, this study will advance health equity by identifying new prostate cancer biomarkers in Black patients, establishing a less-invasive method for studying prostate cancer DNA, and revealing mechanisms of prostate carcinogenesis to inform new efforts at precision prevention and earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer in Black patients.

What this means to patients: Black patients are underserved and at elevated risk of prostate cancer in general and aggressive prostate cancer specifically, yet they tend to be under-represented in clinical research studies. Dr. Joyce and team will investigate whether DNA methylation profiling of patient samples could be a useful tool for the early detection and risk stratification of prostate cancer and a more accurate diagnostic method for prostate cancer, particularly in Black patients, to reduce prostate cancer disparities.