Polygenic Risk Score for Cancer in African Population: A Systematic Review
Wafaa M Rashed1, Olagunju Abdulrahmon A2
1Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ahram Canadian University. 6th of October, Egypt.
Purpose:
The aim of this systematic review is to identify all genome-wide association study (GWAS)-based polygenic risk score (PRS) studies (with different PRS approaches) reported in African ancestry populations diagnosed with any type of cancer. Additionally, this review assessed the role of PRS in advancing precision medicine through its clinical utility across different cancer types in African populations.
Methods:
We searched PubMed from January 2009 to April 2023 and included GWAS-based PRS studies for cancer patients of African genetic ancestry.
Results:
Among the 33 eligible studies, prostate cancer and breast cancer were the most common types in adults, whereas only one publication reported the risk association of neuroblastoma (a pediatric cancer). The most common PRS approach used was ancestry-specific PRS. Clinical utility of the calculated PRS varies across cancer types, with inconsistent results. Our systematic review found a limited number of PRS studies on cancer patients (adult and pediatric) of African ancestry, and these studies showed less clinical utility compared to those conducted in European ancestry populations.
Conclusion:
To make PRS clinically actionable for African ancestry populations, it is crucial to increase the number of large-scale, population-specific GWAS, improve the representation of African-ancestry cohorts, and refine PRS models to better reflect the genetic diversity within African populations.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Survival Analysis
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs


