Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Social Support Needs Of Minority Breast Cancer Patients: Significance Of Racial Homogeneity And Kin Composition Of Social Networks, Ganga Vijayasiri, Garth H. Rauscher, Ifeanyi Beverly Chukwudozie, Richard T. Campbell, Richard Warnecke

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Social support from family and friends assists breast cancer patients navigate a life crisis, but more needs to be understood about specific social network characteristics that can benefit breast cancer patients. To address this need, the primary aim of this study was to identify social network factors that facilitate or reduce social support. Given racially patterned gaps in social support among breast cancer patients, a secondary goal was to identify network characteristics that are linked to gaps in support. We examined these research questions using data from a sample of 915 breast cancer patients (NHWhite=373; NHBlack=377; Hispanic=165) and 4,021 of …

Disparities In Breast Cancer Stage At Diagnosis: Importance Of Race, Poverty, And Age, Faustine Williams, Emmanuel Thompson

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This study investigated the association of race, age, and census tract area poverty level on breast cancer stage at diagnosis. The study was limited to women residing in Missouri, aged 18 years and older, diagnosed with breast cancer, and whose cases were reported to the Cancer Registry between 2003 and 2008. The risk, relative risk, and increased risk of late-stage at diagnosis by race, age, and census tract area poverty level were computed. We found that the odds of late-stage breast cancer among African-American women were higher when compared with their white counterpart (OR 1.433; 95% CI, 1.316, 1.560). In …

Exploration Of Antagonist Efficacy For Lpra2 Like Peptide, Ayobami Loye, Ruben R. Gonzalez-Perez, Phd

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Leptin is a small protein hormone that controls satiety and is produced by adipocytes. Obese people have increased levels of circulating leptin. Excessive leptin levels cause a break down in the control of leptin signaling pathways leading to increased angiogenesis, proliferation, cell migration, invasion, and anti-apoptotic events. Obesity and leptin signaling have been linked to cancer progression. Literature shows that LPrA2 is an effective leptin antagonist as it decreases proliferation of breast cancer cells in vitro.

This project compares the effectiveness of LPrA2 like compounds in breast cancer cell-line MDA-MB-468 (M-468 BCs). We hypothesize that the new peptide antagonists have …

Cox2 Plays An Important Role In Maintenance Of Mammary Cancer Stem Cell Population In Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines, Mayra Garcia, Shehla Pervin, Phd, Easter Thames, Meher Parveen, Phd, Melanie Baker

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Breast cancer is a malignant growth in the adipose-rich mammary gland. Initiation and progression of breast tumors involve multiple cell types, among which mammary cancer stem cells play an important role. There are two main types of adipocytes; white adipocytes have previously been found to influence the disease while brown adipocytes, which uniquely express uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), were recently detected in breast tumors.

We have detected Myf5, a transcription factor, which is expressed in the progenitor population of brown adipocytes, in breast cancer cell lines. We also found an association between expression of Myf5 and COX2 (or Ptgs2), which …

Induction Of Dusp9 In Xenografts From Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines Increases Mammary Cancer Stem Cells, Albert Barrios, Meher Parveen, Phd, Easter Thames, Melanie Baker, Shelha Pervin, Phd

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Breast cancer remains a complex disease that kills 40,000 women every year. Initiation and progression of breast cancer is influenced by heterogeneous groups of cells, including mammary cancer stem cells (MCSCs). Progression of this dreadful disease is driven by many signaling pathways among which MAPK pathway is highly prominent. Since targeting prominent kinases in MAPK pathway has been unsuccessful to control breast cancer, it is important to examine the phosphatases that regulate the activity of these kinases.

Using xenograft model from breast cancer cell lines, our lab has found that during the initial stages of xenograft development (week 1-4, 100-200mg …

Attitudes Toward Breast Cancer Genetic Testing In Five Special Population Groups, Amelie G. Ramirez, Patricia Chalela, Kipling J. Gallion, Edgar Muñoz, Alan E. Holden, Linda Burhansstipanov, Selina A. Smith, Evaon Wong-Kim, Stephen W. Wyatt, Lucina Suarez

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Purpose: This study examined interest in and attitudes toward genetic testing in 5 different population groups.

Methods: The survey included African American, Asian American, Latina, Native American, and Appalachian women with varying familial histories of breast cancer. A total of 49 women were interviewed in person. Descriptive and nonparametric statistical techniques were used to assess ethnic group differences.

Results: Overall, interest in testing was high. All groups endorsed more benefits than risks. There were group differences regarding endorsement of specific benefits and risks: testing to “follow doctor recommendations” (p=0.017), “concern for effects on family” (p=0.044), “distrust of modern medicine” (p=0.036), …