Publications by authors named "Lauren McCullough"

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in obese patients remains challenging. Recent studies have linked obesity to an increased risk of TNBC and malignancies. Through multiomic analysis and experimental validation, a dysfunctional Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 3 Subunit H (EIF3H)/Yes-associated protein (YAP) proteolytic axis is identified as a pivotal junction mediating the interplay between cancer-associated adipocytes and the response to anti-cancer drugs in TNBC.

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Despite similar incidence rates, nationwide breast cancer mortality is 40% higher among non-Hispanic Black (NHB) than non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. The racial disparity persists even among women with early-stage disease, prognostically favorable subtypes, and indicators of high socioeconomic status and is not evenly distributed throughout the US. Understanding geographic differences may provide additional insight into the drivers of the disparity.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Health care disparities have led to significant racial gaps in health outcomes, particularly in breast cancer mortality rates, where Black women face a higher mortality rate despite lower incidence compared to White women.
  • - Focus groups were conducted with Black women across the U.S. to explore their experiences and perceptions regarding participation in health research, revealing common barriers such as mistrust, lack of respect in healthcare settings, and logistical challenges.
  • - To improve research engagement among Black women, it's essential to recognize these barriers and foster trust by having knowledgeable research teams, involving community partners, and ensuring that the research holds meaning for the Black community.
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Mortgage discrimination alters the distribution of investment, opportunity, and economic advantage-key contributors of health disparities. Leveraging Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, we assessed mortgage denial risk in 380 U.S.

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Purpose: Breast cancer has an average 10-year relative survival reaching 84%. This favorable survival is due, in part, to the introduction of biomarker-guided therapies. We estimated the population-level effect of the introduction of two adjuvant therapies-tamoxifen and trastuzumab-on recurrence using the trend-in-trend pharmacoepidemiologic study design.

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Article Synopsis
  • Neighborhood deprivation is linked to increased breast cancer mortality among White women, with mixed findings for Black women, suggesting a need to explore how various neighborhood factors impact this relationship.
  • The study aims to determine the association between neighborhood deprivation and breast cancer mortality in both Black and White women while considering factors like rurality, residential mobility, and racial composition.
  • Using data from the Georgia Cancer Registry, the study analyzes the health outcomes of nearly 37,000 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer from 2010 to 2017, utilizing advanced statistical methods to uncover significant patterns.
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Mortgage discrimination alters the distribution of investment, opportunity, and economic advantage-key contributors of health disparities. Leveraging Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, we assessed mortgage denial risk in 380 U.S.

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Breast cancer survivors have an increased risk of developing second primary cancers, yet risks by race and ethnicity have not been comprehensively described. We evaluated second primary cancer risks among 717,335 women diagnosed with first primary breast cancer (aged 20-84 years and survived ≥1-year) in the SEER registries using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs; observed/expected). SIRs were estimated by race and ethnicity compared with the racial- and ethnic-matched general population, and further stratified by clinical characteristics of the index breast cancer.

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Purpose: The majority of breast cancer patients are diagnosed with early-stage estrogen receptor (ER) positive disease. Despite effective treatments for these cancers, Black women have higher mortality than White women. We investigated demographic and clinical factors associated with receipt of chemotherapy among those with a discretionary indication who are at risk for overtreatment.

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Unlabelled: Liver transplantation offers the best survival for patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Prior studies have demonstrated disparities in transplant access; none have examined the early steps of the transplant process. We identified determinants of access to transplant referral and evaluation among patients with HCC with a single tumor either within Milan or meeting downstaging criteria in Georgia.

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Importance: Inequities created by historical and contemporary mortgage discriminatory policies have implications for health disparities. The role of persistent mortgage discrimination (PMD) in breast cancer (BC) outcomes has not been studied.

Objective: To estimate the race-specific association of historical redlining (HRL) with the development of BC subtypes and late-stage disease and a novel measure of PMD in BC mortality.

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U.S. racial and ethnic minoritized groups face disproportionate cancer burdens compared to White Americans.

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Introduction: Bicycling has individual and collective health benefits. Safety concerns are a deterrent to bicycling. Incomplete data on bicycling volumes has limited epidemiologic research investigating safety impacts of bicycle infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes.

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Neighborhood deprivation indices are widely used in research, but the performance of these indices has rarely been directly compared in the same analysis. We examined the Area Deprivation Index, Neighborhood Deprivation Index, and Yost index, and compared their associations with breast cancer mortality. Indices were constructed for Georgia census block groups using 2011-2015 American Community Survey data.

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Importance: The biological processes that underlie the association of neighborhood environment with chronic diseases, such as cancer, remain poorly understood.

Objective: To determine whether differences in breast tissue DNA methylation are associated with neighborhood deprivation among Black and White women with breast cancer.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study collected breast tissue from women undergoing surgery for breast cancer between January 1, 1993, and December 31, 2003.

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Background: Research examining the effects of historical redlining on present-day health outcomes is often complicated by the misalignment of contemporary census boundaries with the neighborhood boundaries drawn by the US Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) in the 1930s. Previous studies have used different approaches to assign historical HOLC grades to contemporary geographies, but how well they capture redlining exposure is unknown.

Methods: Our analysis included 7711 residences identified in the Multiple Listing Service database in Atlanta, Georgia (2017-2022).

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Purpose: Place-based measures of structural racism have been associated with breast cancer mortality, which may be driven, in part, by epigenetic perturbations. We examined the association between contemporary redlining, a measure of structural racism at the neighborhood level, and DNA methylation in breast tumor tissue.

Methods: We identified 80 Black and White women diagnosed and treated for a first-primary breast cancer at Emory University Hospitals (2008-2017).

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Background: Lifestyle habits can impact breast cancer development, but its impact on breast cancer prognosis remains unclear. We investigated associations of post-diagnosis lifestyle with mortality and recurrence in 1,964 women with invasive breast cancer enrolled in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Pathways Study shortly after diagnosis with lifestyle information at baseline (2005-2013) and the 2-year follow-up.

Methods: We calculated a post-diagnosis lifestyle score (range, 0-18) based on 9 diet, physical activity, and body weight recommendations from the American Cancer Society/American Society of Clinical Oncology (ACS/ASCO) using follow-up data (body weight also included baseline data); higher scores indicate greater guideline concordance.

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Purpose: Significant disparity exists in the diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship outcomes among Black breast cancer (BC) survivors. Black BC survivors have more significant survivorship issues and a greater burden of illness than White counterparts. Barriers to rehabilitation exist for all BC survivors but are magnified in Black BC survivors.

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Background: Democratic deliberation (DD), a strategy to foster co-learning among researchers and communities, could be applied to gain informed public input on health policies relating to genomic translation.

Purpose: We evaluated the quality of DD for gaining informed community perspectives regarding targeting communities of African Ancestry (AAn) for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) screening in Georgia.

Methods: We audiotaped a 2.

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Objectives: Never-smoking women in Xuanwei (XW), China, have some of the highest lung cancer rates in the country. This has been attributed to the combustion of smoky coal used for indoor cooking and heating. The aim of this study was to evaluate the spectrum of cause-specific mortality in this unique population, including among those who use smokeless coal, considered 'cleaner' coal in XW, as this has not been well-characterised.

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Purpose: Our research sought to describe barriers to mammography screening among a sample of predominantly Black women in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia.

Methods: The Pink Panel project convened community leaders from faith-based institutions to administer an offline survey to women via convenience sampling at fourteen churches in Atlanta in late 2019 and early 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the research team switched to an online survey.

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