Chai! This na serious matter wey dey ground oh! Despite all the wahala, wey we don see for breast cancer, our sisters wey get African blood dey suffer pass. Even with all the genetic testing wey don land, death rates still dey high for dem. Wetin happen? Na combination of many factors wey dey cause am. Some wahala include say the existing genetic models no fit predict dem risk well, high rates of aggressive tumors, and dem dey catch am late.
But hold on, no fear! Researchers for University of Chicago Medicine don come with some new models wey go make breast cancer risk prediction better for our sisters. Dem take genetic data from over 36,000 women wey be this side and create one serious prediction tool wey go fit reach dem wey dey underserved historically. Na wetin dem publish today, no be joke!
Before now, most of the genetic tools wey dey for breast cancer prediction na from white women of European ancestry. E dey work well for them but when e reach our sisters, e dey fail. Dem notice say African women, especially, get plenty different kinds of aggressive tumors like triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Na why the gap dey exist, because our DNA get more variation.
Wet wey dey call Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS) na wetin dem use for this new models. E dey based on SNPs, wey be single nucleotide polymorphisms, wey dey pop up for DNA. If you get one or two SNPs, no wahala, but if the number dey plenty, e fit change your cancer risk. Professor wey dey lead this study, talk say this models wey dey work for European-Americans no fit dey accurate for African American women because of smaller sample size and more genetic diversity.
Dem gather data from the African Ancestry Breast Cancer Genetics Consortium, wey get women from U.S., Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa join. The new models wey dem develop fit predict well for four types of breast cancer: overall, estrogen receptor positive (ER+), estrogen receptor negative (ER-), and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The new models show correct prediction fit score as high as 0.61 – 0.64. Compared to the old models wey dey score low pass 0.56 – 0.58, this na serious improvement!
Plus, dem don create some simple models wey go fit make am easier to use and no too cost. This TNBC model use just 162 genetic markers, but e still get correct prediction wey dey score AUC 0.626, making am practical for clinical work. Professor Huo talk say this improved risk prediction go make doctors start screening early for women wey get high risk, and catch the cancers before e too late.
For the study, dem find out say women wey dey the top 1% for risk scores get 25.7% chance of developing breast cancer for their lifetime. And wey talk about TNBC, e get 7.4% chance, wey be serious thing wey fit change their life! This research show say high-risk women fit start screening as early as age 32, instead of the old age 40 or 45 wey dem dey use before. If your family get history of breast cancer, plus the new PRS, then your prediction go strong pass!
The researchers don validate this new models with different datasets so we dey sure say e carry work. Though the study focus mainly on African American women and West African women, dem talk say research still need to continue because the genetics no be the same for women from West, East, North, or South Africa.
At the end of the day, these advanced testing models dey bring us closer to a day wey everybody go get chance for early detection, right treatment, and better survival, no matter where you come from. Na wetin Professor Huo talk, and we dey hope say we go see more of this kind development wey go help our sisters.
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