title: Putative linkage signals identified for breast cancer in African American families.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Genome-wide association studies have identified polymorphisms associated with breast cancer subtypes and across multiple population subgroups; however, few studies to date have applied linkage analysis to other population groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed the first genome-wide breast cancer linkage analysis in 106 African American families (comprising 179 affected and 79 unaffected members) not known to be segregating BRCA mutations to search for novel breast cancer loci. We performed regression-based model-free multipoint linkage analyses of the sibling pairs using SIBPAL, and two-level Haseman-Elston linkage analyses of affected relative pairs using RELPAL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified -log10 P values that exceed 4 on chromosomes 3q and 12q, as well as a region near BRCA1 on chromosome 17 (-log10 P values in the range of 3.0-3.2) using both sibling-based and relative-based methods; the latter observation may suggest that undetected BRCA1 mutations or other mutations nearby such as HOXB13 may be segregating in our sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In summary, these results suggest novel putative regions harboring risk alleles in African Americans that deserve further study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We hope that our study will spur further family-based investigation into specific mechanisms for breast cancer disparities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York. hmochs2@buffalo.edu.
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ochs-Balcom
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Xiangqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Yanwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barnholtz-Sloan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York.
authors.forename: Deborah O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Erwin
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jandorf
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sucheston-Campbell
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Elston
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000235:genetics*; D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000235:genetics; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D002881:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12 / Q000235:genetics; D002886:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 / Q000235:genetics; D002893:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3 / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D019313:BRCA1 Protein; C492913:BRCA1 protein, human; C484414:HOXB13 protein, human; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins