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Epidemiology Branch![]() The NIEHS Sister Study (http://www.sisterstudy.org/English/index1.htm) Cancer-free sisters are being recruited nationally through health professionals, breast cancer advocates, the Internet, a network of trained recruitment volunteers and a national advertising campaign. Recruitment strategies are designed to maximize inclusion of minorities and high-risk women. Study materials are available in English and Spanish. Study researchers will collect data on potential risk factors and current health status using computer assisted telephone interviews and mail questionnaires. The scientists will collect and bank blood, urine and environmental samples for future use in nested studies of women who develop breast cancer (or other diseases) compared with those who do not. Annual tracking and bi-annual questionnaires will update contact information, vital status, and changes in medical history and exposures. Researchers may retrieve medical records and tumor tissue, if feasible, for those who develop breast cancer or other diseases. Analyses of incident cases will assess the independent and combined effects of environmental exposures and genetic polymorphisms that affect estrogen metabolism, DNA repair, and response to specific environmental exposures. Future analyses will focus on known and potential risk factors (e.g., smoking, occupational exposures, alcohol, diet and obesity) and include measurement or analysis of phthalates, phytoestrogens, metals, insulin, growth factors, vitamins and nutrients, and genes in blood and urine. Ancillary studies will investigate the risk for other diseases (e.g., heart disease, osteoporosis, other hormonal cancers, respiratory disease, and autoimmune diseases) and explore genetic and environmental effects on breast cancer prognosis by continuing to follow women in the cohort who develop breast cancer. |
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