Grantees of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Prevention Research Initiative Gather in Houston to Report Interim Findings
16 November 2007 - 4:04AM
PR Newswire (US)
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/. DATASOURCE: Avon Foundation; Baylor
College of Medicine CONTACT: Susan Arnot Heaney of Avon Foundation,
+1-212-282-5668, ; or Kimberlee K. Barbour of Baylor College of
Medicine, +1-713-798-7971, Web site: http://www.avon.com/
http://www.avonfoundation.org/ Company News On-Call:
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