03.10.2003 - Researchers call for better studies on environmental links to breast cancer
UCBerkeley News
By Sarah Yang, Media Relations | 10 March 2003

"A much broader net needs to be cast in the search for environmental links to breast cancer, concludes a report released today (Monday, March 10) 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 non-genetic causes of breast cancer.

The report was submitted to the 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 says. 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."