title: Genes associated with prostate cancer are differentially expressed in African American and European American men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite more aggressive screening across all demographics and gradual declines in mortality related to prostate cancer (PCa) in the United States, disparities among populations persist. A substantial proportion of African American men (AAM) have a higher overall incidence, earlier age of onset, increased proportion of clinically advanced disease, and increased bone metastases and mortality from PCa compared to European American men (EAM). Limited early evidence indicates that underlying causes for disparities may be observed in tumor-specific gene expression programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used microarray-based methods to measure expression levels for 517 genes that were previously associated with PCa in archived formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) specimens; testing the hypothesis that gene expression features of functional consequence to cancer distinguish PCa from AAM and EAM. A t test was conducted comparing AAM to EAM expression levels for each probe on the array.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis of 639 tumor samples (270 AAM, 369 EAM) showed that 95 genes were overexpressed specifically in PCa from AAM relative to EAM and 132 were overexpressed in PCa from EAM relative to AAM. Furthermore, systems-level analyses highlight the relevant signaling pathways and functions associated with the EAM- or AAM-specific overexpressed gene sets, for example, inflammation and lipid metabolism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results here bring further understanding to the potential for molecular differences for PCa in AAM versus EAM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results support the notion that therapeutic benefits will be realized when targeted treatments are designed to acknowledge and address a greater spectrum of PCa subtypes and molecular distinctions.
authors.affiliation: Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University Department of Oncology, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Isaac J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dyson
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Land
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruterbusch
authors.forename: Cathryn H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lenk
authors.forename: Mehsati
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herawi
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Everson
authors.forename: Craig N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Giroux
authors.forename: Ann G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Aliccia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bollig-Fischer
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000235:genetics*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*