Genomic profiles vary with race and subtype in young African American and European American breast cancer (aCGH)

In the United States, African-American (AA) women are more likely to develop early-onset breast cancer and have historically poorer outcomes due to this disease compared to European-American (EA) women. Here, we analyzed genomic profiles of breast tumors from young women (<50 years old), matched by tumor subtype, histological grade, and ethnicity (African-American, AA, compared to European-American, EA). DNA copy number alterations (CNAs) were analyzed using a 32K BAC tiling path array. The study provides insight into the genetic component of ethnicity-related breast cancer health disparities. Breast tumor samples from young women (< 50 years old) were matched as follows: a matched pair consists of one AA and one EA sample, matched for tumor grade and tumor subtype (based on immunohistochemical analysis of ER, PR, and HER2 status). 44 experiments; each experiment is tumor DNA versus reference control DNA (AF) isolated from the blood of a 25-year-old African-American female with no familial or personal history of breast cancer. Additional control experiments included the AF reference versus the well-characterized F1 reference, and 3 self-self hybridization controls (AF versus AF).