African Americans and Latinos who smoke face heightened cancer risks due to distinct epigenetic changes, a new study from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) reveals. The research analyzed data from 2,728 individuals across six racial and ethnic groups in the Multiethnic Cohort Study, a collaboration between USC and the University of Hawaii.
“We know that smoking affects people differently based on their race and ethnicity, but identifying epigenetic signatures of smoking would help us better predict risk for smoking-related diseases,” Brian Huang, PhD, an assistant professor of population and public health sciences at USC explained.
One site on the gene CYTH1 only showed changes in African American people who smoked; another site on MYO1G was more strongly linked with epigenetic changes in Latinos who smoked, compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Those genes performed functions that relate to cancer progression and other disease processes.
“This study gives us some additional information about the mechanism by which smoking can affect health, and how that could differ across various populations,” Huang said. “Ultimately, that can lead to better prediction, early detection and treatment for smoking-related conditions.”
See “Ethnicity Affects Cancer Risk from Smoking, Epigenetics Shows” (March 4, 2024)
