Researchers call for better studies on environmental links.(to breast cancer)

2003 APR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A much broader net needs to be cast in the search for environmental links to breast cancer, concludes a new report that stems from a landmark gathering last year of researchers, public health officials, and activists.

According to the report of the International Summit on Breast Cancer and the Environment, current research methods and health initiatives are insufficient when it comes to understanding and preventing nongenetic causes of breast cancer.

The report was submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, who organized the CDC-funded summit in Santa Cruz last May.

Research needs to evaluate contributing risk factors at all ages of a person's life, including infancy and adolescence, the report said. The report also promotes the establishment of a national biomonitoring program to track exposures using breast milk and other body fluids, the improvement of lifetime exposure assessment for complex chemical mixtures and increased community involvement at all levels of prevention and research.

"This report is the closest anybody's come to developing a single voice on the issue of environmental links to breast cancer," said Patricia Buffler, principal investigator for the summit, professor of epidemiology and former dean of UC Berkeley's School of Public Health. "It was born out of a process that brought together groups with different perspectives, backgrounds and agendas for a productive dialogue on a difficult topic."

The report highlights the most current research on breast cancer presented at the summit by leading experts in the field. Based partly on evidence presented at the summit, more than 100 participants generated thousands of recommendations that were eventually narrowed down to a high-priority list of 28 in the areas of research, education and communication, and policy.

The incidence of breast cancer has increased significantly over the past several decades, with some figures indicating that less than half of all cases in the United States are explained by known risk factors such as reproductive patterns and genetic traits. At the same time, other research on breast cancer cases worldwide suggests that up to 85% of the variation in rates can be explained by duration of breastfeeding and the number of children a woman has borne.