Plasma organochlorine levels and the risk of breast cancer: An extended follow-up in the Nurses' Health Study. Laden F, Hankinson SE, Wolff MS, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Speizer FE, Hunter DJ Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. The environmental organochlorines 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)1,1,1,trichloroethane (DDT) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been implicated as potential causes of female breast cancer. We continued follow-up of our 1997 case-control study nested in the Nurses' Health Study cohort, adding 143 postmenopausal cases and controls to the original 238 pairs, and examining specific PCB congeners for the first time. We measured plasma levels of 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDE), the major metabolite of DDT, and PCBs prospectively, comparing women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1 month and 4 years after blood collection with control women in whom breast cancer did not develop. Median concentrations of lipid-adjusted DDE, total PCBs, and PCB numbers 118, 138, 153 and 180, assessed individually, were similar among the cases and controls. The multivariate relative risk of breast cancer for women in the highest quintile of exposure as compared with women in the lowest quintile was 0.82 for DDE (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.49-1.37) and 0.84 for total PCBs (95% CI: 0.47-1.52), 0.69 for PCB 118 (95% CI: 0.39-1.22), 0.87 for PCB 138 (95% CI: 0.50-1.50), 0.83 for PCB 153 (95% CI: 0.47-1.48), and 0.98 for PCB 180 (95% CI: 0.55-1.75). Sub-group analyses were also performed. Overall, our results do not support the hypothesis that exposure to DDT and PCBs increases the risk of breast cancer. Int J Cancer 2001 Feb 15;91(4):568-74 Ann's NOTE: Many advocates/patients continue to believe that we will discover causality connections when we look at the totality of environmental exposures. Environmental Health Perspectives, April 2001 Environ Health Perspect, March, 2001 Bay Area Higher than Europe/Japan BCa Risk & Historical Exposure to Pesticides JNCI, May, 2001 Organochlorines&Bca Risk:assoc w/larger tumors Organochlorines, P53 Plasma Concentrations of PCB & Risk of Bca PCBs May Increase Risk of Bca California to Study Breast Milk Contaminants OCP Residue & Antioxidant Enzyme Activities Estrogenic Organochlorines & Bca SURVIVAL Pesticide Exposure & HER-2/neu Overexpression EGME/Depakote Boost Estrogen/Progestin In Cells 216 Chemical Carinogens Connected to Breast Cancer 2001 article Rotating Night Shifts & Risk of Bca in Women/Melatonin Study on Exposure to Light at Night/Bca Risk Electromagnetic Fields/Light at Night-Male Bca Impaired Body Clock Speeds Tumor Growth (Mice) Czech Republic Outlaws Excess Outdoor Light Artificial Light & Bca Rates Colorectal Ca & Night Shift Work: Women LINK to Cornell University site for Environmental issues Society for Epidem Research, 6/03 Am J Epidemiol, 10/03 LINK to Environmental Issues site in UK LINK to 7-year funded (NIEHS-NCI) Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Program www.bcerc.org J Social Science & Medicine, online April 2007 LINK to Cancer Journal article/editorial Volume 109, Issue S12, Pages 2627-2634 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.