Gene

Biology

Cancer research

Chromosome instability

Genetics

Genome

Genome instability

Comparative genomic hybridization

DNA damage

Breast cancer

Cancer

Chromosome

Cancer Cell

Disparities in cancer care have been a long-standing challenge. We estimated the genetic ancestry of The Cancer Genome Atlas patients, and performed a pan-cancer analysis on the influence of genetic ancestry on genomic alterations. Compared with European Americans, African Americans (AA) with breast, head and neck, and endometrial cancers exhibit a higher level of chromosomal instability, while a lower level of chromosomal instability was observed in AAs with kidney cancers. The frequencies of TP53 mutations and amplification of CCNE1 were increased in AAs in the cancer types showing higher levels of chromosomal instability. We observed lower frequencies of genomic alterations affecting genes in the PI3K pathway in AA patients across cancers. Our result provides insight into genomic contribution to cancer disparities.

Integrated Analysis of Genetic Ancestry and Genomic Alterations across Cancers