New Sister Study logo
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Study
Seeks North Carolina Women
Whose Sisters Had Breast Cancer
RESEARCH
TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.
- A new study looking at sisters of women with breast cancer
has expanded its recruitment to include women living throughout
North Carolina. The study, conducted by the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes
of Health, is designed to determine the genetic
and environmental causes of breast cancer.
The study will be
expanded nationally in October, but currently includes
statewide recruitment in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Missouri,
North Carolina, Ohio,
Rhode Island, and Virginia.
[The Journal
originally reported on this study in the April
2004 issue which featured Sara Williams, Sister Study
Coordinator and also a breast cancer survivor.]
The study will eventually
require 50,000 women volunteers nationwide, ages
35 to 74, including African American, Asian, Latina, and
American Indian women, who have not had breast cancer but
who have a sister who was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Sisters of women with breast cancer are known to be at greater
risk of the disease than other women. Dale Sandler, Ph.D.,
Chief of the Epidemiology Branch at NIEHS, said, "Volunteers
will complete several questionnaires and provide a sample
of their blood, urine, toenails, and household dust. With
that, we will be able to look at the contributions of lifestyle,
occupational and environmental exposures, and genes to breast
cancer risk." The study, she added, will
follow sisters for 10 years or more and compare those who
develop breast cancer during that time to those who do not.
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| L
to R: Sara Williams and sister, Denni Peebles |
Volunteers
in the Sister Study will help researchers identify factors
that influence the development of breast cancer.
"My sister Sara is a breast cancer survivor and advocate,
but the national battle against this disease is far from
over," said Denni Peebles
of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. "Women
are suffering every day as a result of breast cancer, and
I am more than happy to participate
in the Sister Study so that they can try to find the cause
of this life-changing disease." (Peebles
is pictured here, right, with her sister Sara Williams,
left. Williams has served as Recruitment Coordinator
for the Sister Study since 2001.)
To volunteer or learn
more about the Sister Study, go to the web site www.sisterstudy.org
or call toll free
1-877-4SISTER (877-474-7837).
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