Marin County Breast Cancer Study of Adolescent Risk Factors
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: The purpose of this study is to examine the potential relationships among established breast cancer risk factors and understudied or novel adolescent and pre-adolescent risk factors in Marin County, California. The study is a collaboration between Marin Breast Cancer Watch (MBCW) and the University of California, San Francisco. The long range goal of MBCW is to discover risk factors that ultimately may lead to a reduction of breast cancer incidence.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 MBCW is a grass-roots, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization of approximately 350 members, established in 1995 because of community concern regarding the extremely high incidence (133.2 per 100,000 for the 1900-94 period) of breast cancer in Marin County. With the University of California, San Francisco, we conducted a BCRP-funded pilot study to determine the feasibility of conducting a large study with a traditional research partner and to assess the need for a larger study. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We reviewed the pertinent literature and developed a questionnaire and memory tools to overcome the difficult problems of recalling distant past life events. We also conducted focus groups and interviews with Marin County residents with and without breast cancer to evaluate and will pretest the memory tools and the questionnaire. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Guided by the results of the pilot study, we will conduct a large study in Marin County of relatively unexplored adolescent as well as known breast cancer risk factors. Our major question is: did adolescent and pre-adolescent experiences significantly differ between women with and without breast cancer in Marin County? Specific factors to be compared are: (1) physical development and changes; (2) adolescent stress, family and social connections; (3) detailed adolescent and contemporary socioeconomic factors; (4) passive and active smoking; (5) alcohol use; (6) residency and migration and (7) known breast cancer risk factors.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Few readily modifiable risk factors for breast cancer have yet been defined, despite studies showing that breast cancer risk is modifiable over a single lifetime. Adolescent factors have been understudied. This study will address two priority areas of breast cancer research, namely, breast cancer etiology, through greater attention to relatively unexplored adolescent and pre-adolescent factors, and prevention, through inclusion of some potentially modifiable behavioral and psychosocial factors. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Specifically, we will conduct in-person interviews with 300 women with breast cancer diagnosed between 7/1/97 and 6/30/99 in Marin County identified through the local cancer registry and 300 appropriately matched controls from the same population. We will evaluate four primary hypotheses about: (a) ages at menarche and breast development; (b) major life events before age 21; (c) adolescent and/or adult socioeconomic status; (d) age-adjusted lifetime years residing in Marin County. We also will evaluate associations of other adolescent social and lifestyle factors with breast cancer; write articles for scientific journals about our pilot and full study results; conduct community educational forums; and develop newsletter items and a website.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We expect that by increasing knowledge of breast cancer etiology, our studies ultimately will enhance possibilities for breast cancer prevention. Specific to the problem of high breast cancer rates in Marin County, finding no differences in cases and controls for total years of residence in Marin County might allay community concerns about Marin specific environmental exposures, while finding a difference might generate enthusiasm for additional explanatory studies. Bringing together community members and scientists in this successful collaboration may encourage other communities to take an active role in cancer research. Most importantly, information obtained may suggest learning tools and lifestyle changes in adolescence that can be incorporated into the lives of our daughters to prevent breast cancer.