Jersey Girl Study On Pre-Teen Girls Expanded - Effort Seeks Clues On Environmental And Nutritional Impact On Future Breast Cancer Development

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet;  Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 07 May 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Can environmental and lifestyle factors predict whether young girls will be at risk for breast cancer in the future? That is what the Jersey Girl Study at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) aims to find out, as it is being expanded to double the participants in order to obtain a more comprehensive sample. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

The goal of the Jersey Girl Study is to understand how puberty is affected by environmental, hormonal and nutritional factors in nine- and ten-year-old girls, who live in the Garden State. Research studies have clearly identified puberty as a critical window in a woman's development that has a major impact on her future risk of developing breast cancer. According to a 2007 Breast Cancer Fund study, women who started their period before age 12 have a 50 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer, compared to those who started at age 16, an important finding given that the average age at which girls in the United States reach puberty has been declining.

Elisa Bandera, MD, an epidemiologist at CINJ and assistant professor of epidemiology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and UMDNJ-School of Public Health, is conducting the study. She notes, "Since there is growing evidence that early life factors have a significant impact on breast cancer risk, it is critical that we have a better understanding of what causes the early onset of puberty in young girls. We are hopeful to use the data from this study to improve the health of this population, as well as reducing their long-term risk of developing breast cancer."

According to the American Cancer Society, aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. In 2008, there were 183,000 new cases of breast cancer nationwide and 6,300 new cases in New Jersey.

Healthy girls aged nine and ten are eligible to take part, although other criteria must be met. Girls must live with their biological mother so that personal and family history can be documented. Once eligibility is determined, data will be collected on environmental exposures and lifestyle factors including diet and physical activity. Body measurements (including weight, height and body fat) and puberty scale are recorded, and urine and saliva samples are collected. Data, which will be kept completely confidential, will be collected initially over a two-hour period, followed by annual ten-minute phone calls for two to four years. More information on the Jersey Girl Study can be found by e-mailing jerseygirlstudy@umdnj.edu or calling 732-235-9860.

The research study is a collaboration between CINJ, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (jointly administered by UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey), Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, UMDNJ-School of Public Health, and the New Jersey Family Medicine Research Network.

As New Jersey's only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, CINJ offers patients access to treatment options not available at other institutions within the state. CINJ currently enrolls more than 1,000 patients on clinical trials, including approximately 15 percent of all new adult cancer patients and approximately 70 percent of all pediatric cancer patients. Enrollment in these studies nationwide is fewer than five percent of all adult cancer patients.

Source
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey

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