They asked her if she smokes or drinks, which medications she has taken in the last year, if she grew up near power lines or railroad tracks, and even whether she uses makeup or anti-perspirant. It took Doris Harrington two hours to fill out the rather extensive questionnaire a couple years ago. She did it because she wants to stop the cycle.
Her younger sister, East Orlando resident Susan Makowski, survived her breast cancer diagnosis and now works for the American Cancer Society. And Harrington, who retired to New Smyrna Beach, survived her colon cancer diagnosis. “It’s only two or three hours out of a lifetime,” Harrington said.
“And if that can save even one life, one woman from having to go through a mastectomy or chemotherapy or radiation, or even having to hear they have breast cancer, it was well worth it.” Harrington has two other sisters, Alice and Jean, who are the only two members of her family to remain unscathed. The three are participating in the Sisters Study, a 10-year study of women whose sister had breast cancer.
The national study is being conducted by the National Institutes of Health to discover how environment and genes affect one’s chances of getting breast cancer. No stone is left unturned; the questionnaire packet looks at everything. But with recent news reports looking at phthalates — hormone-mimicking chemicals found in plastics, including many baby products — as a potential carcinogen, cancer may lurk in the details.
“Currently there are many foci in terms of cancer; there is a lot of press devoted to new cancer detection instrumentation, new therapeutic inventions, drug therapy that can be tailored to the types of cancers people have,” said Leslie Sue Lieberman, founding director of the Women’s Research Center at University of Central Florida. “We really need to step back from detection and look at prevention. In broad terms, American medicine is neglectful of prevention.
This study is interesting because it’s a careful look at the environment, trying to pin down potential household carcinogens.” The definitive link between human papillomaviruses and cervical cancer is held up triumphantly by cancer research advocates. But the causal agents for breast cancer are more elusive. “Not only are there many causes, but they also interact in different ways.
One [cause] alone may not do it,” Lieberman said. “If you have a first-degree relative with breast cancer, like a sister or a mom, that does increase your risk. But does it increase because you’re related, or because of your shared environment?”
The Sisters Study wants 50,000 women who reside in the United States or Puerto Rico, ages 35-74, who have never had breast cancer themselves. According to www.sisterstudy.org, the Sister Study is about 11,000 short of its 50,000 goal. Black, Hispanic and elderly women are especially needed for the study, which aims to benefit women of all socioeconomic and ethnic groups.
“It’s hard to get people to sign up,” said Carol DiMarco, a nurse and breast health expert at Florida Hospital. “I don’t know what it is — people are leery of studies, they’re afraid they’ll have to take something. But there’s never going to be anything to take; it’s only about your history.”
The questionnaire examines the participant’s own medical history, as well as family medical history back to the grandparents. Study participants will also be interviewed over the phone, and later visited by a nurse who will collect samples of blood, urine and toenails.
Which sounds strange, except toenails grow slowly and retain a lot of information about a person. Study participants can expect yearly telephone interviews after the initial questionnaire and visit. “It’s very comprehensive,” Harrington said. “I have other siblings, and maybe if we determine what causes cancer, future generations can stop the cycle.”
