More About the Two Sister Study
Here is how the new study will work. Many Sister Study participants who have an eligible sister with young-onset breast cancer, who was diagnosed less than four years ago, will be asked to mail that sister an invitation from us to join the Two Sister Study. If that sister agrees to participate, she will complete telephone interviews like the ones her sister did previously for the Sister Study and also answer questions about her cancer diagnosis and treatment. She will send in a saliva (spit) sample for DNA analysis. We will also ask her to help us contact her parents, so they can send saliva as well, but she can participate even if her parents do not. We will look for possible environmental effects by comparing histories of sisters with and without breast cancer, and for possible genetic effects by tracking unusual variations in genes that may have been passed from parents to daughters. Sisters who join the Two Sister Study can go on to be part of our long-term effort to study breast cancer survivors, so we can learn about factors related to long-term health following treatment for breast cancer.
