Abstract 250: Multiple lines of evidence makeZDHHC3a possible marker for breast cancer in African American women

Rates of breast cancer mortality continue to be divided among race and ethnicity without a definitive explanation. Between the years 2005-2009 the racial disparity in breast cancer mortality caused about 9 extra death per 100 breast cancer cases in African American women compared to Caucasian women. In addition, young African Americans tend to have more aggressive forms of breast cancer. The source of this health disparity likely stems from a complex combination of mammography rate and frequency; segregation; socioeconomic status; and genetics. We contribute to what is known about genetics by investigating microsatellites - a type of repetitive DNA - and possible links to the breast cancer mortality gap. Microsatellites are understudied compared to single nucleotide polymorphisms and have the capacity to affect gene expression. We screen 33,854 microsatellites in germline DNA of African American women with and without breast cancer: four are statistically significant. We preform further analysis of genes harboring these microsatellites; the results reveal that ZDHHC3 is particularly interesting. Its location (3p21) is already linked to early invasive breast cancer. Kaplan-Meier analysis shows that ZDHHC3 alterations may be associated with poor breast cancer survival. Data from cBioPortal suggests that ZDHHC3 mRNA expression is lower in African Americans compared to Caucasians. These independent lines of evidence make ZDHHC3 a candidate for further investigation. Citation Format: Nicholas A. Kinney, Robin T. Varghese, Ramu Anandakrishnan, Harold R. Garner. Multiple lines of evidence make ZDHHC3 a possible marker for breast cancer in African American women [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 250.