Relationship between West African ancestry with lung cancer risk and survival in African Americans

Purpose African Americans, especially men, have a higher incidence of lung cancer compared with all other racial and ethnic groups in the US. Self-reported race is frequently used in genomic research studies to capture an individual’s race or ethnicity. However, it is clear from studies of genetic admixturethat human genetic variationdoes not segregate into the same biologically discrete categoriesas socially defined categories of race. Previous studies have suggested that the degree of West Africanancestry among African Americans can contribute to cancer risk in this population, though few studies have addressed this question in lung cancer.