African Americans tend to have a higher risk of developing multiple myeloma at an earlier age and a higher risk of death than whites. While certain factors, such as socioeconomic status and access to care, can affect the outcomes of multiple myeloma, there’s no question that genetic mutations may also play a significant role in the development of multiple myeloma.
Examining the effect of genetics on multiple myeloma requires the inclusion of all racial and ethnic groups in biological databases, which is not always apparent.
This study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology for the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, assessed disparities in the representation of data on multiple myeloma in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and clinical trials (CT). The incidence of multiple myeloma was gathered from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) according to race, ethnicity, sex, and age. Genes with oncogenic potential were stratified by race, ethnicity, and age.
Ultimately, it was found that race was not reported in 20% of TCGA, 4% of CT, and 3% of NAACCR. Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians were all underrepresented, while whites were overrepresented in TCGA and CT.
Moreover, it was found that the BCL7A gene is mutated more in Blacks under age 50 than whites, and the KRAS gene is mutated more in Blacks than in whites regardless of age. Lastly, the FAT4 gene was mutated more in whites aged 65 and older than in Blacks of the same demographic.
In conclusion, disparities exist among racial and ethnic groups with multiple myeloma. To improve quality of care and increase access to appropriate medical resources, inequities in representation in biological databases should be corrected, as genetic mutations across racial and ethnic groups may significantly impact the survival and outcomes of multiple myeloma [1].
Source:
[1] Aggarwal, N., Ahluwalia, P. K., Kolhe, R. B., & Cortes, J. E. (2022, June). Demographic disparities in genomic data and clinical trials for multiple myeloma [Poster session]. 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. https://meetings.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/207906
