The National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health has awarded Anna Gottschlich, Ph.D., M.P.H., member of the Population Studies and Disparities Research Program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and assistant professor of Oncology in the Wayne State University School of Medicine, a five-year, $916,545 career development award to support her research on the epidemiology of cancer health disparities and early detection and interception strategies to improve cancer equity.
The goal of the study, “Investigation of socio-genomic associations related to survival among a population-based sample of those diagnosed with endometrial cancer in Metropolitan Detroit,” is to provide preliminary findings of the association between chronic stress, biological factors and clinical outcomes among women with endometrial cancer, furthering the field of research in improving outcomes for those with gynecologic cancers.
“I am very excited to have protected time to expand my knowledge around molecular cancer epidemiology and bioinformatics while conducting a study on socio-genomic factors related to survival among endometrial cancer patients in our catchment area,” Dr. Gottschlich said.
Among women with endometrial cancer, some high-risk populations have double the mortality rate compared to others, which known social and biological factors cannot wholly explain. Socio-genomic studies, which investigate how social factors influence genomic and biologic activity, are critical to improving understanding of survival differences in women with endometrial cancer, without which improvements in outcomes will remain challenging.
“We hypothesize that chronic stress may modify the relationship between molecular subtypes of endometrial cancer and survival,” she said.
The project will use data from the Detroit Research on Cancer Survivors (ROCS) cohort, which includes annual survey data, geocoded addresses, and longitudinal clinical and vital statistics data for 320 women with endometrial cancer living in metropolitan Detroit at diagnosis.
Study outcomes will inform study questions and provide preliminary evidence for future R01-level projects.
The grant number for this National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health grant is CA303796.
Originally published at Today@Wayne.