4. Results
4.1. Public and scientific engagement
A total of 26 individuals from across the US led or served as
an official advisor to the CBCPI. The names and affiliations of
these 26 individuals are provided in the Supplement in Appendices
A and B. The Steering Committee members oversaw the CBCPI
through video conference calls, in-person meetings and written
communications with each other and with the Strategy Advisors.
Approximately 300 stakeholders participated in the various
stakeholder opportunities for input. All Concept Proposals were
approved by the Steering Committee prior to submission to the Council.
4.2. Identifying pivotal research questions
4.2.1. Review of the literature
The results ofthe targeted scans ofthe literature were presented
in 2013 as an online document, Gaps Supplement: Targeted Scans
of the 2007 “Gaps” Document “Identifying Gaps in Breast Cancer
Research: Addressing disparities and the roles of the physical and
social environment” [31]. Overall, the results of the Gaps update
found that the amount and relevance of research on the environment
and disparities identified in 2007 varied a great deal in the
subsequent five years.
Published research around the relationship between breast cancer
and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and bisphenol A (BPA)
had increased. For other topics, such as pharmaceuticals, very little
of the substantial research published since 2007 was related
to breast cancer. A limited number of studies were found relevant
to previously identified gaps in some topic areas, such as the
need for specificity in definitions of neighborhood and community
level variables (e.g., neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), built
environment and racial segregation). While a number of studies
addressed the intersection of neighborhood racial composition and
P. Sutton et al. / Reproductive Toxicology 54 (2015) 11–18 15
neighborhood SES, they mainly examined how these factors affect
breast cancer screening and treatment.
4.2.2. Review of 2004–2009 SRI funded projects
We compiled a detailed description of the 9 topics and 18 SRI
funded projects [28]. The review of this document led to the identification
of several “follow-on” opportunities, specifically on the
topics of immigration, an ecological model of breast cancer and
chemicals testing.
4.2.3. Interviews with SRI Principal Investigators and Strategy
Team members
We interviewed 15 of the 20 Principal Investigators that
received funding from the SRI; 1 individual declined to be interviewed;
and 4 were unresponsive to 5 or more written requests.
The following three research questions were found to have high
(67%) agreement among Principal Investigators as topics to pursue:
1. Is there proof of concept that environmental chemical exposure
during critical periods of development can induce or promote
breast cancer in humans?
2. Does early life or founding generation exposures make you more
susceptible to subsequent environmental exposures?
3. What are the key modifiable risk factors and conditions suggested
by complex modeling systems?
Forty percent of the Principal Investigators stated that they
believed that either investing in an existing cohort or supporting
cross-disciplinary research teams were the best scientific
approaches to addressing the research questions.
We interviewed 14 of 24 SRI Strategy Team members. The 10
individuals not interviewed included 4 who declined, 3 who were
unavailable due to illness/sabbatical, and three already interviewed
as SRI-funded Principal Investigators. The Strategy Team members’
top priorities were:
1. Invest in an intergenerational cohort study, i.e., analyze how
mother, daughter, and granddaughter respond to chemical exposures;
and
2. Examine the relationshipbetweenenvironmental exposures and
disparities across social class and race/ethnicity and incorporate
a life course perspective or other time dimension into such
analyses.
A cluster of responses targeted the need to improve and better
utilize animal studies for indications of which environmental
agents may be relevant to human health and to develop exposure
assessment methods for chemicals and their metabolites suspected
of adverse health impacts.
4.2.4. Interviews with cancer prevention experts
We hosted six discussions at the AACR including 2 focus groups;
3 one-on-one meetings; and 1 phone interview subsequent to the
AACR conference. In total, 15 scientists participated in 1 of the 6
discussions. All discussions lasted between 60 and 90 min.
The theme that recurred in most of the discussions (four of six)
was the need for trans-disciplinary research teams, or “team science”,
to address CBCPI research questions. Ideas for immediate
funding mentioned in one or more discussions were:
1. Improve knowledge of the windows of susceptibility relative to
breast cancer risk;
2. Identify pathways controlling breast density;
3. Multiple questions about breast cancer and obesity;
4. Integration of animal and human models for understanding
mammary development;
5. Breast cancer risk and biological effects on the breast from a
variety of environmental exposures including stress, endocrine
disrupting chemicals, and ionizing radiation from medical imaging;
6. In utero environmental exposures with the potentialto influence
hormones during pregnancy; and
7. Disparities in breast cancer incidence related to race, ethnicity,
ancestry, and/or immigration status.
4.2.5. Stakeholder input
The statewide workshops resulted in a list of 144 research questions
of interest to stakeholders. Of the 144 questions, 63 were
rated “important” by two or more attendees. These questions are
presented in the Supplement in Appendix C. There was statewide
interest in research related to the geographic and temporal disparities
in exposure to environmental chemical and social stressors,
and to the range of cultural influences on breast cancer.
Of the 46 participants in our 3 webinars, 23 self-identified
as staff/volunteers with breast cancer non-profit or other
community-based organization; 15 as breast cancer or other
researchers/scientists; 4 as interested members of the public; 3
as clinicians; and 1 as a non-breast cancer research scientist. The
25 stakeholders in the 2012 webinar provided 46 suggestions for
CBCPI research directions. Major themes for research to fund that
emerged included to:
1. Advance chemicals testing policy;
2. Understand the relationship between disparities in breast cancer
relative to: environmental exposure to chemicals, the social
determinants of health, geography, and workplace exposures;
and
3. Disparities related to underserved and vulnerable populations.
The 2013 webinar involved 11 stakeholders who identified the
“most compelling” topics to be: chemical exposures and prevention;
hormones in the food supply; leveraging existing cohorts for
opportunities to explore concurrent exposure to environmental
and psychosocial risk factors for breast cancer; the impact of policy
on breast cancer risk factors and incidence; and economic, housing,
and education interventions. The 10 participants in the 2014 webinar
reviewed themes under consideration in the population-level
intervention topic area; no clear pattern of preference emerged
among the participating stakeholders.
4.3. Science assessments
We engaged experts to conduct assessments of three issues in
order to identify the most promising research questions on these
topics:
1. Early Life Adversity and Breast Cancer (Disparities)
The review found preliminary evidence for an association
between childhood adversity and risk for post-menopausal
breast cancer, especially more severe forms of adversity, such as
physical and sexual abuse. The most promising hypothesis identified
was that the effects of childhood adversity are mediated
by obesity, with proximal mediation by increased circulating
insulin and enhanced local estrogen biosynthesis.
2. Experimental Studies of Breast Cancer and Stress (Disparities)
The review confirmed that very few studies have investigated
environmental stressors and toxics exposure concurrently.
Research is needed thattests different windows of susceptibility,
applies stressors in a manner that can translate to human scale
4.2. Identifying pivotal research questions
4.2.1. Review of the literature
The results ofthe targeted scans ofthe literature were presented
in 2013 as an online document, Gaps Supplement: Targeted Scans
of the 2007 “Gaps” Document “Identifying Gaps in Breast Cancer
Research: Addressing disparities and the roles of the physical and
social environment” [31]. Overall, the results of the Gaps update
found that the amount and relevance of research on the environment
and disparities identified in 2007 varied a great deal in the
subsequent five years.
Published research around the relationship between breast cancer
and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and bisphenol A (BPA)
had increased. For other topics, such as pharmaceuticals, very little
of the substantial research published since 2007 was related
to breast cancer. A limited number of studies were found relevant
to previously identified gaps in some topic areas, such as the
need for specificity in definitions of neighborhood and community
level variables (e.g., neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), built
environment and racial segregation). While a number of studies
addressed the intersection of neighborhood racial composition and
neighborhood SES, they mainly examined how these factors affect
breast cancer screening and treatment.
4.2.2. Review of 2004–2009 SRI funded projects
We compiled a detailed description of the 9 topics and 18 SRI
funded projects [28]. The review of this document led to the identification
of several “follow-on” opportunities, specifically on the
topics of immigration, an ecological model of breast cancer and
chemicals testing.
4.2.3. Interviews with SRI Principal Investigators and Strategy
Team members
We interviewed 15 of the 20 Principal Investigat