Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Cancer Research
Session: 3
Room: Exhibit Hall
Eric Thompson - Alabama State University
Co-Author(s): Ram Alagan: Cancer Biology Research and Training, Department of Advancement Studies,Alabama State University, Montgomery, ALSeela Aladuwaka: Cancer Biology Research and Training, Department of AdvancementStudies, Alabama State University, Montgomery, ALManoj Mishra: Cancer Biology Research and Training, Department of Biological Sciences,Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL
Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) influences the aging population, increasing the riskof many diseases, including breast cancer. The cancer prevalence in Alabama is high; breastcancer rates are particularly high. Alabama’s Black Belt rural counties are closely associatedwith socioeconomic and health disparities, and political oppression, among which social equityand socioeconomic status have been closely associated with breast cancer incidence. Ourinvestigation explores breast cancer occurrence in the aging population in the major ethnicgroups (African American and Whites) in the State of Alabama, mainly in the black belt ofAlabama. Prior studies have revealed that breast cancer prevalence is related to biological,environmental, and socioeconomic characteristics. A precise sense of the root causes of theage-related increase in breast cancer incidence is required to develop a strategy for buildingprimary spatial and non-spatial cancer data using machine-learning tools.Hypothesis/Objectives: We hypothesized that SES is closely related to aging and breastcancer occurrence. Our study aims to explore the impact of SES factors to understand breastcancer incidence in the aging population in Alabama.Methods: We utilized Geospatial Technology (GT) to analyze the connection between agingand breast cancer prevalence in different ethnic populations in Alabama. This studyincorporated county-level breast cancer prevalence and its association with aging, SES, andhealth disparities. The robust data mining (Alabama Department of Senior Services, AlabamaState Cancer Profile data, Alabama Department of Health, American Cancer Society, Center forDisease Control, and National Cancer Institute) enabled us to explore the association betweenaging and breast cancer in the spatial context. Integrating spatial and non-spatial data on breastcancer prevalence to SES will help predict and formulate breast cancer prevention methods.Results: The GT’s secondary data analysis revealed that breast cancer affects minoritycommunities in the Black Belt in Alabama. The GT analysis further demonstrates that thisdisparity is due to a lack of access to health care and mitigation efforts. The diverse dataintegration reveals that the SES and related factors modulate the aging population and breastcancer occurrence.Conclusions: The preliminary finding demonstrates that SES is an essential factor thatmodulates breast cancer incidences in underserved minority aging populations in Alabama.Hence, understanding the association between aging and socioeconomic disparities will helppredict and treat breast cancer more effectively.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): National Science Foundation
Faculty Advisor: Manoj Mishra, mmishra@alasu.edu
Role: During this study I performed geographic analysis and utilized Geospatial Technology to analyze the connection between aging and breast cancer prevalence in different ethnic populations in Alabama.Data collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information.