Racial Difference in Prostate Cancer Cell Telomere Lengths in Men with Higher Grade Prostate Cancer: A Clue to the Racial Disparity in Prostate Cancer Outcomes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Black men have worse prostate cancer outcomes following treatment than White men even when accounting for prognostic factors. However, biological explanations for this racial disparity have not been fully identified. We previously showed that more variable telomere lengths among cancer cells and shorter telomere lengths in cancer-associated stromal (CAS) cells individually and together ("telomere biomarker") are associated with prostate cancer-related death in surgically treated men independent of currently used prognostic indicators. Here, we hypothesize that Black-White differences in the telomere biomarker and/or in its components may help explain the racial disparity in prostate cancer outcomes.

Methods

Black [higher grade (Gleason ≥4+3) = 34 and lower grade =

SUBMITTER: Heaphy CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7060118 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature