|
|
Photo by
Hamilton
Kahn
Cheryl Osimo at the Silent Spring office in Hyannis. |
|
|
Breast cancer study proves inconclusive
Silent Spring seeks state funds
for phase two of Cape research
Sally
Rose
BANNER STAFF
Results from the much-awaited two-and-a-half-yearstudy by Silent Spring Institute, which sought to find reasons why CapeCod has such elevated breast cancer rates, have met with some disappointmentin the Cape community, but also with much hope that the findings will serveas a strong foundation for further, more conclusive studies.
The disappointment comes because no decisive evidencehas so far been found pointing to any specific direct causes for the Cape'shigh incidence of breast cancer. But this $3.6 million study was only thefirst phase of a two-part state-funded research effort. Proposals for phasetwo of the effort are currently begin reviewed by the Massachusetts Departmentof Public Health.
Commenting on the seemingly inconclusive results,Cheryl Osimo, Silent Spring's Cape Cod coordinator, says, 'Nobody knowsuntil you begin a study what will be involved.' She points out thatnobody realized at the beginning how little had been done up till now andhow much groundwork there was to be laid.
'I'm not at all disappointed at what SilentSpring has accomplished,' Osimo says. 'We had to lay the groundwork... and we are doing everything in a methodical fashion.'
Surprisingly, much research has been done in relationto environmental toxins and other forms of cancer, but little has been donewith regards to breast cancer. Therefore, looking at the Silten Spring studyas an early step, Osimo feels 'as confident and as uplifted today asI did a year ago. And I continue to have tremendous hope for the future.'
Ann Maguire, one of the founders of the MassachusettsBreast Cancer Coalition and a breast cancer survivor, says of the perceptionthat the study was inconclusive, 'I think the expectation was thatthings would be either ruled in or ruled out.'
Maguire, a Provincetown resident and owner of HargoodHouse, explains that most of the studies thus far on breast cancer havefocused narrowly after diagnosis that is, on physiological factors inherentin each of the women diagnosed with the disease, such as her age, whetherand at what age she'd had kids, the age at the onset of menses, the ageat the onset of menopause, etc., but few, if any, looked at possible causes.
'This is one of the first studies lookingat the environment and at a whole variety of things. ... This is the firsttime a wide open view was taken,' Maguire says, adding that she believesthe state-funded study did 'a fine job sorting through all of the variables.'
Osimo, a breast cancer survivor herself whose canceris in remission, is a member of the board of directors of the Mass. BreastCancer Coalition, from which Silent Spring sprang. It was a visit to theWorld Conference on Breast Cancer in Ontario with Silent Spring directorJulia Brody that made her realize that the Cape is years ahead of otherregions of the country which are just beginning to do research on breastcancer. She also was shocked at how many people had heard of the SilentSpring Institute and were looking forward to the results of the Cape study.
What Silent Spring's study did accomplish was many-fold:In addition to compiling and coordinating into a useful form existing researchfrom all over the country and the world, it mapped the addresses of over2,000 women with breast cancer on the Cape (Osimo stresses that strict confidentialitywas maintained) and superimposed environmental data from Silent Spring researchers'field work, plus that from local, state, federal and university databases,into a Geographic Information System; developed statistical analysis methodsfor environmental epidemiology for identifying pockets of higher-than-normalincidence; developed new methods to test water samples for estrogenic chemicals(compounds that mimic estrogen, found in some pesticides, detergents andplastics), some of which break down into compounds that can damage DNA;and sampled septage, wastewater influent and effluent, groundwater knownto be contaminated by wastewater, and drinking water.
The researchers found substantial concentrationsof environmental estrogens in septage and wastewater samples, and they foundthe same compounds at lower concentrations in groundwater contaminated bywastewater. However, when they conducted a very limited study of drinkingwater from a few private wells, their findings did not suggest that drinkingwater was a primary source of exposure for these environmental estrogens,but, the report stressed that it was a very limited sampling and thereforenot conclusive.
The Silent Spring group is also sharing informationwith groups on Long Island, another region with higher-than-normal breastcancer rates. Long Island is similar to the Cape in that nearly all of thearea's drinking water is supplied by a single groundwater aquifer, and,according to a 1996 Silent Spring report, 'the porous sandy soils abovethe aquifer make drinking water wells especially vulnerable to environmentalimpact from sources such as septic systems and municipal waste water andfrom pesticides used on forests, cranberry bogs, golf courses and lawns.'
Silent Spring's proposal for phase two of the studyis under review, along with other groups' proposals, by the Mass. Departmentof Public Health. And the group is anxious to be selected to continue theresearch.
'Most people forget that Silent Spring isa unique collaboration, a partnership of scientists and citizens,'says Osimo. The nonprofit scientific research institute is made up of researchscientists and physicians from places such as Tufts University School ofMedicine, Boston University's Schools of Public Health and Medicine, pluspublic health advocates and community activists. Osimo explains that volunteerscontribute 'a multitude of services, including women with breast cancerwho want to help us move ahead, daughters of women with breast cancer whowant to help their mothers, retired physicians, and women without breastcancer who just care.'
She adds, 'I know that [Silent Spring] willbe a part of the team who will change the legacy of the breast cancer epidemic.'
|
Jarusiewicz has brought many gifts to
town
|
|
|
|
|
Dec 25th, 1997