Abstract:
Precision oncology can be defined as molecular profiling of tumors to identify targetable
alterations. Emerging research reports the high mortality rates associated with type II endometrial
cancer in black women and with prostate cancer in men of African ancestry. The lack of adequate
genetic reference information from the African genome is one of the major obstacles in exploring the
benefits of precision oncology in the African context. Whilst external factors such as the geography,
environment, health-care access and socio-economic status may contribute greatly towards the
disparities observed in type II endometrial and prostate cancers in black populations compared to
Caucasians, the contribution of African ancestry to the contribution of genetics to the etiology of these
cancers cannot be ignored. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) continue to emerge as important regulators
of gene expression and the key molecular pathways involved in tumorigenesis. Particular attention
is focused on activated/repressed genes and associated pathways, while the redundant pathways
(pathways that have the same outcome or activate the same downstream effectors) are often ignored.
However, comprehensive evidence to understand the relationship between type II endometrial
cancer, prostate cancer and African ancestry remains poorly understood. The sub-Saharan African
(SSA) region has both the highest incidence and mortality of both type II endometrial and prostate
cancers. Understanding how the entire transcriptomic landscape of these two reproductive cancers
is regulated by ncRNAs in an African cohort may help elucidate the relationship between race and
pathological disparities of these two diseases. This review focuses on global disparities in medicine,
PCa and ECa. The role of precision oncology in PCa and ECa in the African population will also
be discussed.
