<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Sister Study: The Young Women's Breast Cancer Project Skip navigation
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The Young Women's Breast Cancer Project

Photo of an adult daughter with her mother and father

The Young Women’s Breast Cancer Project is part of the Sister Study. It will study ways that genes and environmental factors work together to increase the risk of breast cancer in young women or to influence long-term health after treatment. This project will use saliva samples to collect genetic information from women currently participating in the Sister Study who were under age 50 when diagnosed with breast cancer. Saliva samples will also be collected from their available blood-related parents.

Breast cancer is a serious disease that will affect 1 in 8 women in the US over our lifetimes; breast cancer in young women may be different from breast cancer in older women and it has not been well studied. We believe this project will give us valuable information about the different reasons young women sometimes get breast cancer. This information may help us learn about ways to prevent breast cancer, and ways to reduce the risk of developing an additional cancer.

Photo of African American adult daughter with her mother and father

The Young Women’s Breast Cancer Project will also add family-based data to the analyses of the Two Sister Study.  DNA from the saliva can be used to help identify differences in genes that may impact risk when passed from parents to daughters. The saliva collection kit is easy to use, requires only a small amount of saliva, and can be returned to the Sister Study via regular mail.

Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) are running this project.  The investigators are Dale P. Sandler, PhD and Clarice R. Weinberg, PhD. 
MEET THE INVESTIGATORS

If you develop breast cancer before age 50  the Sister Study will send you information about how you and your parents can participate. We will ask you for a sample of your saliva and to mail letters from us about the study to your blood-related parents. The daughters in the Sister Study are our only link to their parents.

For more information about the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Project, you can call the Sister Study helpdesk, toll-free, at 1-877-4SISTER.