We Are Almost There: But Parents Are Needed!
We are grateful to the sisters who have joined the Two Sister Study! After dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis, more than 1500 remarkable women have volunteered to help us get some answers. We will learn a great deal about factors that contribute to susceptibility by comparing the sister with breast cancer and the sister without. Enrollment of sisters is now closed, but it is not too late for their parents to contribute.
Parents are providing a critical piece of the puzzle. Thank You to the 1,300 parents who have signed up so far! The saliva we get from one or both parents is used to extract DNA, which will allow us to learn about genetic factors in families that work with environmental factors to cause breast cancer.
If you or your sister signed up for the Two Sister Study, you can still encourage your parent(s) to make a small donation of saliva. This one-time effort should take them less than 10 minutes but can make an important contribution. For information or scheduling, please call us soon toll-free at 1-877-4SISTER (1‑877‑474‑7837) or send an email to info@sisterstudy.org.
From left to right: Pam Bugler (sister), R. Colleen Foster (mother), and Cindy Matteson (survivor sister, a.k.a. "Pink Ninja").
Read their Stories
Women with breast cancer often tell us they feel frustrated because they cannot join the Sister Study. As you know, the Sister Study is enrolling 50,000 women whose sister had breast cancer, but does not involve those sisters with breast cancer directly. Now some of those sisters can join an exciting new study, funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and directed by Drs. Clarice Weinberg, Dale Sandler, and Lisa DeRoo. The “Two Sister Study,” an offshoot of the Sister Study, will focus on young-onset breast cancer. Although breast cancer is uncommon below age 50, women who develop the disease at a young age can tell us a lot about genetic and environmental causes. With support from the Komen Grants Program, and help from Sister Study participants, we are now enrolling up to 2,000 sisters who were under age 50 when recently diagnosed. Their parents will also be invited to participate, for a powerful study based on families.
The participants in the Sister Study are our only link to families that might qualify. When the data we have suggests a family may be eligible, we send a letter to the Sister Study participant, asking her to help us get in touch with her sister who had breast cancer. We are delighted to report that more than 1000 families have already received letters of invitation and many have agreed to enroll in the study. If you think your family is eligible, you probably will in time be sent an invitation. Please be patient. Thanks so much to those of you who have already enrolled in this important research project. We hope it will enable us to learn a great deal about genetic and environmental causes of young-onset breast cancer. We are also trying to learn about factors related to long term health following treatment. For further information about the Two Sister Study, you can call the Sister Study help-line free, at 1-877-4SISTER.
There is power in sisterhood!
Click here to learn more about how
the Two Sister Study will work.
Visit the Sister Study main page to find
information about
the Sister Study and the participants!
