Determining the role of germline CDH1 variants in gastric cancer outcome disparities in Hispanic/Latino patients

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The molecular basis of gastric cancer (GC) health disparities that Hispanic/Latino (Hs/L) patients face is an understudied and unmet public health issue. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, Hs/L patients with GC are younger, have twice the disease incidence, and are more likely to develop the more aggressive form of the

disease called diffuse GC. The molecular causes for these disparities are unknown since Hs/L patients have not been included in previous GC studies. The investigators recently completed the first integrated genomic analysis of Hs/L GC patients and found that 7 of 43 (16%) Hs/L patients with diffuse GC carried germline CDH1 variants.

Germline CDH1 variants that are pathogenic cause hereditary diffuse GC syndrome (HDGC), which confers up to an 80% lifetime risk of developing diffuse GC, often at a young age. Thus, Hs/L patients may have a higher rate of HDGC, which would help explain the unique clinicopathologic characteristics seen in these patients since

HDGC is thought to cause