Racial disparities in breast cancer preclinical and clinical models

Breast cancer (BCa) has long been a health burden to women across the globe. However, the burden is not equally carried across races. Though the manifestation and behavior of BCa differs among racial groups, the racial representation of models used in preclinical trials and clinical trial participants lacks this heterogeneity. Women of African Ancestry (WAA) are disproportionately afflicted by having an increased risk of developing BCas that are more aggressive in nature, and consequently suffer from poorer outcomes relative to women of European ancestry (WEA). Notwithstanding this, one of the most commonly used tools in studying BCa, cell lines, exhibit a sizeable gap in cell line derivatives of WEA relative to WAA. In this review, we summarize the available BCa cell lines grouped by race by major suppliers, American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and the European Collection of Authenticated Cell Cultures (ECACC). Next, examined the enrollment of WAA in clinical trials for BCa. Of the cell lines found provided by ATCC and ECACC, those derived from WEA constituted approximately 80% and 94%, respectively. The disparity is mirrored in clinical trial enrollment where, on average, WEA made up more than 70% of participants in trials found where ancestry information was provided. As both experimental models and clinical trial participants primarily consist of WEA, results may have poorer translatability toward other races. This highlights the need for greater racial diversity at the preclinical and clinical levels to more accurately represent the population and strengthen the translatability of results. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13058-022-01551-x.