Race-related host and microbe transcriptomic signatures in triple-negative breast cancer
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) shows racial disparities, with higher incidence in women of African ancestry (AA) compared to European ancestry (EA). Meta-transcriptomic analysis of TNBC tumor tissues from AA (n = 17) and EA (n = 19) subjects revealed distinct microbial landscapes. Hierarchical clustering based on microbial transcripts separated samples into two groups predominantly defined by racial ancestry. Bacterial genera including Hafnia and Cedecea were more abundant in AA tumors, while Erwinia was higher in EA tumors. Cellular composition analysis by xCell revealed differences in immune cell populations, with AA tumors having higher Th1 cell abundance and EA tumors containing higher macrophage M2 cell abundance. Nonetheless, AA women with high M2 abundance experienced poorer disease-free survival (DFS) than EA women. Integrative analyses revealed that high expression of human SPDYE2B gene was associated with Hafnia abundance and decreased DFS, highlighting complex host-microbe interactions in TNBC patients.
Authors
- Hemant K. Tiwari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4016-1856)
- Aishwarya Sundaresan
- Roshan Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4942-4459)
- Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra
- Michael Behring (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5162-322X)
- Lubna N. Chaudhary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0616-6135)
- Paul Livermore Auer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1735-8044)
- Clayton Clopton Yates (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5420-9852)
- Darshan S. Chandrashekar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4295-9127)
- John R. Kirby (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2612-0479)
- Akinyemi I. Ojesina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0755-3639)
- Sadeep Shrestha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7002-357X)
- Sooryanarayana Varambally (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2277-1127)
- Upender Manne
- Susan Duyar‐Ayerdi
- Chandra Sekhar Pedamallu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6704-058X)
- Isam‐Eldin Eltoum
Institutions
- Magadh University (IN)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Medical College of Wisconsin (US)
- Johns Hopkins Medicine (US)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (US)
- Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center
- Excelsior College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Breast Cancer
- Published
- 2025-08-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-025-00806-y
- Primary Topic
- Fungal Infections and Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Avon Foundation for Women
- National Institutes of Health