Researchers and Health Science Center staff are continuing work to improve the health of residents living in South Texas and beyond. Michael Escamilla, M.D., a researcher at the Regional Academic Health Center’s Edinburg Medical Research Facility, recently published a study regarding the genes contributing to schizophrenia in Latinos. In addition, a dedicated group of professionals at the Laredo Campus Extension are collecting data regarding cancer incidence for the Laredo Cancer Registry.


Family study hunts schizophrenia risk genes in Latinos

Contact: Will Sansom
Phone: (210) 567-2579
E-mail: sansom@uthscsa.edu

Three regions of chromosomes 1, 5 and 18 very likely contain genes that contribute to schizophrenia in persons of Mexican and Central American ancestry, investigators of an international genetics study conducted in the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica reported this month.

Michael Escamilla, M.D., conducted research regarding genes that contribute to schizophrenia in Latinos.
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The study, led by Michael A. Escamilla, M.D., of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health Genetics Initiative, was published this spring in the American Journal of Medical Genetics. The study also included participation by the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio.

“Genome” describes the total contents of a person’s genetic material, or DNA. Scientists perform genome-wide scans to identify DNA variations that are unique to distinct people groups. In recent years, similar studies in the United Kingdom, Iceland and Canada utilized genome-wide scans to identify genes causing schizophrenia, but this type of work had not been done in the U.S. Latino population or in the Mexican population, Dr. Escamilla said.

The researchers studied 459 individuals from 99 families that had at least two siblings with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The team used more than 400 DNA markers, which are distinguishing landmarks across the genome, to identify the regions most likely to contain schizophrenia-susceptibility genes.

Two of the regions of DNA are distinct from regions that have been identified as containing schizophrenia-risk genes in studies of European, African American and European American ancestry, while one overlaps from a recent study that looks at Americans of European and African ancestry.

The findings are an important step toward identifying genes that affect a person’s vulnerability to developing schizophrenia and other related psychotic disorders, and offer hope that the biological causes of these disorders in the Latino population will eventually be identified.

“The results of this study represent years of work at the international level, and the efforts of hundreds of research staff and participating families in the Southwestern United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala,” Dr. Escamilla said. “Individuals and families in the Latino community carry great burdens associated with schizophrenia and have historically not been able to benefit from the recent advances in genetic research that we have seen in other populations. The fact that the National Institute of Mental Health has funded and supported this research work shows its commitment to helping study these diseases in persons of all ethnic heritage in the United States.”

Latinos now make up the largest minority group in the United States.

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects approximately 1 out of every 100 persons in the United States and throughout the world, and affects persons of all ethnic backgrounds. The disorder is one of the leading causes of disability and economic burden, according to the World Health Organization. Studies have shown that genetic factors are the largest risk factor in developing schizophrenia and that multiple genes are likely to be involved.

For more genetics study details, see www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat.asp?newID=2341&SearchID=.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $536 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14.3 billion biosciences and health care industry, the leading sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 22,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields.


Laredo Cancer Registry expected to bolster reporting in the region

Contact: Will Sansom
Phone: (210) 567-2579
E-mail: Sansom@uthscsa.edu

A team of diligent professionals at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio’s Laredo Campus Extension is compiling reliable facts and figures about cancer in Webb County and the region. Their work results in greater awareness of cancer, understanding of its impact on people groups, and ability to gauge detection and treatment in the Laredo area.

The Laredo Cancer Registry Program, which is based in offices at the Laredo Campus Extension, was established in 2006 under the auspices of the San Antonio Cancer Institute and the Health Science Center’s department of epidemiology and biostatistics, and in partnership with the Texas Cancer Registry in the Texas Department of State Health Services. “This will improve reporting of new cancers diagnosed in the Mid Rio Grande Border Region,” said Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., president of the Health Science Center.

Improve cancer reporting in South Texas

Brad Pollock, M.P.H., Ph.D., professor and chairman of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics, is involved in the Laredo Cancer Registry program.

The importance of the Laredo-based registry is unfolding, said Brad Pollock, M.P.H., Ph.D., professor and chairman of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics. “In the South Texas Border Region, we need to accurately measure the incidence of cancer in an accurate and timely way,” he said. “This is in order to identify unique patterns of occurrence that provide clues to the causes of cancer, as well as to help us ensure access to state-of-the-art cancer care for this important part of the Texas population.”

Billie Spicer is the tumor registrar of the Laredo Cancer Registry Program. Minerva Castillo from the department of epidemiology and biostatistics and Velma Garza from the Texas Cancer Registry administer the program.

The program was one of those honored during National Cancer Registrars Week, which was April
9-13.

San Antonio Cancer Institute
The San Antonio Cancer Institute is a partnership of the Health Science Center and the Cancer Therapy & Research Center in San Antonio. It is one of only two National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers in Texas and 61 nationwide.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $536 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14.3 billion biosciences and health care industry, the leading sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 22,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields.