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Caryn Lerman: Racial differences in breast cancer morbidity and mortality between Black/African American and White women

Collage Photo of Caryn Lerman and Chanita Hughes-Halbert

Nov 29, 2024, 10:58

Caryn Lerman: Racial differences in breast cancer morbidity and mortality between Black/African American and White women

Caryn Lerman, Director of USC Norris, posted on LinkedIn:

“Racial differences in breast cancer morbidity and mortality have been examined between Black/African American women and White women as part of efforts to characterize multilevel drivers of disease risk and outcomes, as there is still a persistent mortality gap between these demographics. Published in Nature Journal, Dr. Chanita Hughes-Halbert, Associate Director for Cancer Equity for USC Norris, led a first-of-its-kind cross-sectional study, in which she and her team examined cortisol levels in seventy-two Black/African American breast cancer patients and tested their association with social and clinical factors to understand the relationship between stress responses and women’s lived experiences with cancer health outcomes. Their results revealed that patients with hypertension and those who experienced more negative life events were significantly more likely to have elevated cortisol levels. These negative effects reflected the cumulation of adverse effects of social stressors.

Learn more here.”

Video attached to the post.

Dr. Caryn Lerman, Director of USC Norris and the H. Leslie and Elaine S. Hoffman Professor in Cancer Research, is renowned for her work in cancer prevention. Her approach merges neuroscience, pharmacology, genetics, and behavioral science. Notably, she generated the initial empirical data on genetic testing outcomes for cancer susceptibility. Lerman’s research sheds light on the genetic causes of cancer risk behaviors. Her studies led to the first prospective stratified pharmacogenomic trial for tobacco dependence, revolutionizing precision medicine in tobacco addiction treatment.