Abstract D106: Divergent biology in ethnically diverse populations is central to health disparities in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Introduction: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating diagnosis with a five-year survival rate below 9%. Among various ethnic groups there are differing incidence and mortality rates that underpin a patient’s overall prognosis. Blacks have higher incidence and mortality rates and a worse prognosis compared to Whites. Conversely, Hispanic/Latino patients have the lowest recorded incidence and mortality rates. Though well recognized by experts, these discrepancies are poorly understood and unaccounted for by socioeconomic means. Therefore, we hypothesize that divergent biology drives the observed disparities in PDAC. Methods: Patients with PDAC that underwent surgery at our institution between 2010 and 2017 were included in this retrospective study. Surgical pathology reports were reviewed, and cases were matched by age, gender, and tumor grade. Psoas muscle indices (PMI) were measured from pre-operative CT scans. Baseline indices for respective ethnic groups were determined from healthy patients with non-oncologic pathology. Whole-exome sequencing was then performed on DNA from tumor and adjacent benign parenchyma. Results: Healthy Blacks have a significantly greater PMI than case-matched Whites (0.90 vs. 0.70, p Citation Format: Miles E Cameron, Patrick W Underwood, Michael U Maduka, Steven J Hughes, Andrea N Riner, Jennifer B Permuth, Andrew R Judge, Jose G Trevino. Divergent biology in ethnically diverse populations is central to health disparities in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D106.