New study highlights racial differences in genome maps

A new study by researchers at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine found that compared with white and Asian women, women with Black women with metastatic breast cancer are less likely to have tumors with treatable genetic variants

"We know that historically, minority groups have been less likely to participate in genomic research," said surgical oncologist Neha Goel, MD, first author of the paper

Clinicians often view oncogene variants as actionable or non-actionable

To investigate this question, Dr.

They found that black patients with metastatic cancer had fewer actionable mutations

According to Dr.

The team hopes this work will serve as a wake-up call for the life sciences industry to embrace more diverse genetic research and identify actionable, cancer-causing mutations in all populations

"As genomic research continues to be underrepresented in black and other nonwhite breast cancer patients, more work needs to be done to increase minority enrollment," said Dr.