Unique Collaborative Meeting Includes Leading Scientists Investigating
Pregnancy and Breast Cancer Prevention
HOUSTON, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighteen scientists investigating
novel means for primary prevention of breast cancer by studying the natural
impact of pregnancy on breast tissue met at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston on Monday, November 12, 2007 to share interim findings. All are
part of the unique Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Prevention Research
Initiative, one of many Avon Foundation-funded programs seeking new
directions in breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.
The meeting, convened by the Avon Foundation and Baylor College of
Medicine, brought together a network of grant recipients who have been
challenged through the Breast Cancer Prevention Research Initiative to use
different approaches to address the question: what changes occur in a
woman's breast tissue during pregnancy that alter her future risk of breast
cancer. The goal is to identify the changes that reduce breast cancer risk
and seek ways to provide the protective benefits to all women, regardless
of reproductive history.
Pregnancy is associated with profound physiological changes in breast
tissue and results in complex, age-dependent effects on breast cancer risk,
with a transient increase in risk immediately following pregnancy, followed
by long-lasting protection or risk, dependent upon age at first full-term
pregnancy. Women who have their first full-term pregnancy before the age of
25 are at a decreased lifetime risk of breast cancer compared to women who
never have children or who have a first pregnancy after the age of 35.
Although the mechanisms that mediate pregnancy related changes in human
breast tissue are poorly understood, it is hoped that a better
understanding of these changes might lead to the development of innovative
prevention strategies.
While specific interim data will not be released to the public because
it is in the early stages, Dr. Marc Hurlbert, Scientific Director of the
Avon Foundation, notes that, "we wish to bring the model of this program to
the attention of the public and other researchers since collaborations and
sharing of interim data is not a typical practice in research. The Avon
Foundation hopes to be a change agent in the process of research as well as
in the actual studies we fund."
A few of the areas of investigation in the Breast Cancer Prevention
Research Initiative include:
-- New techniques to assess physiology and permeability in a woman's
breast under development by Dr. Dixie Mills, Clinical Research
Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation. These techniques move
away from reliance on animal models and biopsy of specimens, and
instead study the physiology of the "living, intact breast."
-- Dr. Christine Erdmann, PhD, MPH, University of Michigan, School of
Public Health, reported her work analyzing epidemiology population data
from prior studies to understand the interactions of critical risk
factors, including age at first pregnancy, body mass index, and alcohol
consumption.
-- Several doctors provided very preliminary reports on their efforts to
understand which genes and proteins change after pregnancy in breast
tissue that could have a later impact on breast cancer.
"These are novel lines of research that will help in the fight to
better understand and prevent breast cancer," said Dr. Daniel Medina,
Professor, Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Baylor College of
Medicine. "Baylor is proud to host this collaborative meeting with the Avon
Foundation."
"The Breast Cancer Prevention Research Initiative is breaking
traditional paradigms," noted Dr. Dixie Mills, "first, by providing funds
to support these unusual research studies, and then by fostering
collaboration. The Avon Foundation first hosted the grantees in New York in
2006 and now we are together again at Baylor. Twelve months into this
multi-year initiative we are sharing data and discussing barriers to
success. We will go back to our research after this meeting with fresh
ideas and approaches to more rapidly advance our studies."
Attendees include representatives from Baylor College of Medicine,
Dana- Farber Cancer Institute, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Johns Hopkins University, Marin County
Department of Health, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center,
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, University of Illinois at
Chicago, University of Kansas Medical Center, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, University of Michigan, University of Michigan School of Public
Health, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska Medical Center,
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
About the Avon Foundation and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Houston
The Avon Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 1955 to
improve the lives of women and their families, with a mission now focused
on breast cancer and domestic violence. Through 2007 Avon global
philanthropy in 50 countries worldwide has raised and awarded more than
$580 million, including $525 million raised by the Avon Breast Cancer
Crusade to advance access to care and finding a cure. The major fundraising
program is the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series, and the first-ever Avon
Walk Houston is slated for April 12-13, 2008. Baylor College of Medicine
will be serving as the Medical Sponsor for the inaugural walk year in
Houston. For more information: 866-505-AVON or visit
http://www.avonfoundation.org.
SOURCE Avon Foundation; Baylor College of Medicine
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.avon.com
http://www.avonfoundation.org
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/079575.html /
CONTACT:
Susan Arnot Heaney of Avon Foundation,
+1-212-282-5668, Susan.Heaney@avonfoundation.org; or Kimberlee K.
Barbour of Baylor College of Medicine, +1-713-798-7971,
kbarbour@bcm.tmc.edu
|
