The influence of race and ethnicity on the biology of cancer

It is becoming clear that some of the differences in cancer risk, incidence and survival among people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds can be attributed to biological factors. However, identifying these factors and exploiting them to help eliminate cancer disparities has proved challenging. With this in mind, we asked four scientists for their opinions on the most crucial advances, as well as the challenges and what the future holds for this important emerging area of research.

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