Published today in Cancer Informatics is a new original research article by Chindo Hicks, Lucio Miele, Tejaswi Koganti, LaFarra Young-Gaylor, Deidre Rogers, Vani Vijayakumar and Gail Megason.  Read more about this paper below:

Title

Analysis of Patterns of Gene Expression Variation within and between Ethnic Populations in Pediatric B-ALL

Abstract

B-Precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common childhood cancer. Although 80% of B-ALL patients are able to be cured, significant challenges persist. Significant disparities in clinical outcomes and mortality rates exist between racial/ethnic populations. The objective of this study was to determine whether gene expression levels significantly differ between ethnic populations. We compared gene expression levels between four ethnic populations (Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) in the United States. Additionally, we performed network and pathway analysis to identify gene networks and pathways. Gene expression data involved 198 samples distributed as follows: 126 Whites, 51 Hispanics, 13 Blacks, and 8 Asians. We identified 300 highly significantly (P < 0.001) differentially expressed genes between the four ethnic populations. Among the identified genes included the genes PHF6, BRD3, CRLF2, and RNF135 which have been implicated in pediatric B-ALL. We identified key pathways implicated in B-ALL including the PDGF, PI3/AKT, ERBB2-ERBB3, and IL-15 signaling pathways.

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