Cancer is an increasing public health burden, including in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where cancer-deaths raised by 27% since 2002 and incidence will double in the next 20 years. These rates ask for a better understanding of the epidemiological, clinical, and molecular characteristics of cancer across SSA regions, which display variable genetic and environmental features. Current ethnic disparities in cancer research, persisting in large sequencing consortia such as TCGA, produce inequalities in cancer research which consequently impact basic and translational research. The problem persists in terms of availability of ethnic-informative in vitro models. Basic cancer understanding and testing has been accomplished over the past 50 years by recurring to cancer cell lines. Thousands of cancer cell lines have been established, but African ancestry is limited to only ~5%, and the few cancer cell lines available were mostly derived from African-Americans, whom represent only West African diversity. Differences in immune response, cell metabolism, methylation profile and drug response between European and African ancestries are being revealed, unsupporting direct extrapolations from cancer studies based on European cancer cell lines into African oncobiology. It is thus urgent to generate cancer cell models in diverse SSA backgrounds, taking advantage of the more efficient technologies of propagation of patient-derived cells as conditional reprogramming of cells and organoid establishment. In this presentation we will present how we are establishing a diverse SSA cancer cell line panel, in collaboration with colleagues from several African countries, aiming to provide reliable tools that enable up-to-date oncology research in the African ancestry.

We will discuss the ongoing efforts of the International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes (ICSBCS) in harnessing ancestry genetics to discover unique cancer drivers. Dr. Davis serves as the Scientific Director of ICSBCS and will give an overview of the recruitment efforts and the current trends of emerging genomic findings.
The current state of genomic data is severely lacking diversity, and therefor accuracy in the broader world population. As ICSBCS partners with more nations, the impact of our genomic work grows. We will ensure that the data generated will empower proper categorization of patients as well as discovery of population-specific genetic risk variation in tumor biology in breast cancer. Collection of patient-derived ex-vivo models will also allow the validation of these findings in future directions. Historically under-represented groups have suffered poorer outcomes, due to the lack of understanding of unique mechanisms that have gone unstudied or under-appreciated. Prioritization of these populations will help endeavor a broader perspective of disparities and a deeper understanding of targetable pathways to improve precision medicine options for the global community.