Breast Cancer
Description
Breast cancer is the most common non-skin cancer among women in the United States, and the leading cause of cancer death for U.S. women aged 20-59. It is the leading cause of cancer death for women overall worldwide. Although scientists have identified many risk factors that increase a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer, they do not yet know how these risk factors work together to cause normal cells to become cancerous. Most experts agree that breast cancer is caused by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors. The NIEHS supports animal studies to understand the role of environmental agents in the initiation and progression of breast cancer, as well as research on chemical risk factors and genetic susceptibility in human populations. In 1994, NIEHS researchers isolated a tumor-suppressor gene, BRCA1, which is known to play a critical role in the development of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. NIEHS-funded scientists have also demonstrated that night-time exposure to artificial light can stimulate the growth of human breast tumors in mice by suppressing the levels of a key hormone called melatonin. These results might explain why female night shift workers have higher rates of breast cancer than the general population, and may offer an explanation for the rise in breast cancer incidence in industrialized countries. The NIEHS-funded Sister Study, a national study of 50,000 healthy sisters of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, will focus on the environmental and genetic causes of this disease.
Watch The Breast Biologues, an award winning video, produced by the NIEHS-supported Bay Area Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center (BABCERC). The video (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2011/july/spotlight-grantee/index.cfm) uses animation and time-lapse microscopic images to showcase the latest research about breast cancer and the environment.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month allows us an opportunity to reflect on the research progress we are making as an institute to understand the environmental causes of breast cancer, that will in turn, reduce breast cancer risk.
“I look forward to the day when I can stand with all of our partners to say, ‘We did it. We know how it happens, and we can stop it.’ That day will come. Until then, we will continue the hard work."
- Linda Birnbaum at a community forum held in Sausalito, California in 2009
Here are a few recent activities supported by NIEHS:
The Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee (IBCERCC) established by NIEHS, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is reviewing breast cancer research efforts conducted or supported by federal agencies. The Committee (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2011/june/spotlight-progress/index.cfm) is developing a comprehensive report for the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The NIEHS Sister Study has successfully recruited more than 50,000 diverse women, whose sisters had breast cancer, to participate in the long-term Sister Study that is uncovering environmental and genetic factors that influence breast cancer risk.
The study has already reported some preliminary findings about how factors such as weight and perceived stress may influence health, and investigators are beginning to use the biological samples participants contributed to learn how some genetic factors may affect breast cancer risk.
The Sister Study has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop two new efforts in breast cancer research:
- To address questions related to breast cancer survival, particularly among young women with breast cancer.
- To study how having a sister with breast cancer impacts the unaffected sister and her family.
Some of the 50,000 women from the Sister Study are also participating in additional activities related to this study, including the The Two Sister Study and the Early Life Exposures Study .
For more details about these exciting programs, please see the 2011 Sister Study Newsletter .
NIEHS and the National Cancer Center are also supporting the Breast Cancer & the Environment Research Centers. The centers are studying the impact of prenatal-to-adult environmental exposures that may predispose a woman to breast cancer.
The Carolina Breast Cancer Study
, conducted by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, is examining disparities in survival between African American and white women with breast cancer in 24 North Carolina counties. In addition to environmental, genetic, and lifestyle risk factors, the project is examining access to care, distance to provider, poverty index, and other social/geographic barriers to explain breast cancer survival rates.
Health Studies & Clinical Trials
What NIEHS is Doing on Breast Cancer
- 12th Report on Carcinogens (RoC)
- Addressing New Challenges in Children’s Environmental Health (314KB)
- The Breast Biologues - video and comic book (English and Spanish)
- Breast Cancer & the Environment Research Centers
- A Mitochondrial DNA Polymorphism is Associated with Invasive Breast Cancer in African-American Women
- Brainstorming Session on Breast Cancer & the Environmen
- Breast Cancer Risk is Associated with a Cigarette Smoke Chemical Metaboliten
- Breast Cancer Takes Center Stage
- Cell-Specific Responses to Chemotherapy Agents in Breast Cancer
- Circadian Clock and Cell Cycle Gene Expression in Mammary Glands
- Dietary Antioxidant Flavonoids Protect Against Post-Menopausal Breast Cancer
- Early Exposure to Bisphenol A Alters Mouse Mammary Gland Development
- Environmental Factors and Breast Cancer Risk (1MB)
- Estrogen Lessens Effects of Obesity and Alcohol on Breast Cancer (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2012/1/dert/index.htm#a3)
- Genes Regulated by Estrogen Predict Survival in Hormone-Positive Breast Cancers
- Genetic Testing Misses Some Breast Cancer Gene Mutations
- Inhibition of ReIB Synthesis by ERa Signalling Controls the Shift in Breast Cancer Cell Phenotypes
- Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee
- Making Progress on Breast Cancer
- New Concerns about Radiation and Breast Cancer
- Niehs Grantee Honored for New Video on Breast Cancer Research (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2011/july/spotlight-grantee/index.cfm)
- Of Mice and Women: Modeling Breast Cancer and the Environment - Scientific Glossary (PDF)
- Polymorphisms in Nucleotide Excision Repair Genes are Associated with Increased Risk for Breast Cancer
- Polymorphisms in Nucleotide Excision Repair Genes Modify Breast Cancer Risk in Smokers
- Progesterone Triggers Breast Inflammation
- Pro-inflammatory Lymphocytes Promote Breast and Intestinal Cancer
- Regular Aspirin Use May Decrease Breast Cancer Risk
- Repair of DNA Damage Differs Between Sisters With and Without Breast Cancer
- Snail and Slug Activate TGF-Beta in Breast Cancer (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2012/1/dir/index.htm#a4)
- Social Isolation and Possible Implications for Breast Cancer
- Social Isolation Speeds Breast Tumor Growth
- Tamoxifen and Estrogen Induce Chromosome Breaks in DNA Repair-Deficient Cells
- Understanding the Links between Environmental Exposures and Cancer
- UNC-TV Focus on Health: The Sister Study
General Information
- Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer Fact Sheet (161KB)
- Dwelling on Differences in Health
- Household Products Database: Health Effects
- State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment
- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Apoptosis
- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: BRCA1/BRCA2
- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Cancer
- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Carcinogen
- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Carcinogen
- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Carrier
- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Genetic Testing
- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Oncogene
- Talking to Your Doctor - Resources from NIH
For Educators
- EHP Student Edition Lesson: Risk Factor Roulette (261KB)
- Workshop for Breast Cancer, Genes, Ethics, and the Environment (421KB)
