The Sister Study analyzes 50,000 women with sisters diagnosed with breast cancer to evaluate common factors and differences that may predict the likelihood of the disease. Participants provide various samples and complete interviews over ten years. A two-sister study is also being planned. In 2009, the study discovered that stress levels and being overweight have an influence on chromosomal changes. Researchers hope to find more findings related to breast cancer.
The Sister Study is a long-running analysis of 50,000 women who have sisters diagnosed with breast cancer. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences commissioned the study and began enrolling participants in 2004. Each woman who volunteers to participate in the study does so for a total of ten years. Various measurements of health, genetics, behavior, etc. are occasionally provided during this period so that the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences can evaluate common factors or differences that may play a role in predicting the likelihood of cancer breastfeeding, and especially in discovering how environment and/or genetics can be predictors of the disease.
Women who participate in the Sister Study do so after applying and being accepted. They usually have to provide things like urine samples, toenail clippings, and dust samples collected in the house where they live. They also complete several telephone interviews and provide a blood sample. Once they have been fully registered and provided with preliminary data, they have regular updates with searches.
The age range of participants in the Sister Study ranges from 35 to 74, and a two-sister study is being planned from 2008, which will look specifically at women who have had breast cancer at a young age. This study is likely to be smaller in scope and will only enroll about 2,000 women. Similar information will be collected to evaluate what influence genetic background and environment might have in causing breast cancer.
The amount of information that can be gleaned from willing participants is looked upon with great hope. Any numbers or values provided by one woman’s tests, when combined with other women’s test data, can begin to show patterns, and these can reveal information about a devastating and life-threatening disease. Women who openly participate in the Sister Study comment that it seems like it’s the only thing they can do to honor a deceased sister or support a brother who is still battling the disease. Clearly the sisters can’t fight cancer for them, but they feel like they are fighting cancer in general by giving this information, which could benefit their families and the wider world.
It doesn’t take ten years to identify some information, particularly when it is combined with current medical knowledge. A first discovery occurred in 2009 and clearly suggests that stress levels and the amount of overweight have an influence on chromosomal changes. This may or may not be related to breast cancer, but it certainly postulates that previously perceived aging is likely the result of higher stress and being overweight. Researchers evaluating data from the Sister Study are hopeful that more findings, particularly related to breast cancer, could emerge.
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