A new study conducted by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's scientists suggests that inherited factors can increase the risk of Leukemia in Hispanic children.
Researchers found that Hispanic kids are more likely to be diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) compared to those from other ethnic backgrounds.
They also indicated that Hispanic kids are even more likely to die of their disease.
Scientists studied genetic factors analyzing ARID5B gene. They found that eight common variants of the gene were linked to an increased risk of not only developing pediatric ALL but of having cancer return after treatment.
They suggested that Hispanic children are about twice in danger of inheriting a high risk-version of ARID5B compared to their non-Hispanic counterparts.
"For years we have known about ethnic and racial disparities in ALL risk and outcome, but the biology behind it has been elusive,” said an assistant member of the St. Jude Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Jun Yang.
“Children who inherit high-risk versions of ARID5B are more likely to develop ALL in the first place and then more likely to fail therapy," he added.
Recent findings set the stage for identifying how genetic, environmental and other factors combine in ALL, especially in the context of racial and ethnic disparity, Yang explained.
In the United States, about 3000 children get involved with ALL each year from which the number of Hispanic individuals is 50 percent higher than non-Hispanics.
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