RETHINKING BREAST CANCER TOXICOLOGY

Abstract

EVALUATING CHEMICALS for breast cancer risk should focus more on identifying critical disease pathways and high-throughput screening of compounds and less on traditional toxicology tests on adult animals, according to an expert panel. The panel was convened as part of the Breast Cancer & Chemicals Policy Project (BCCPP), which was funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program. One goal of the project was to develop a toxicity testing approach to identify chemicals that contribute to breast cancer. Another was to recommend ways to close gaps in toxicological methods and scientific knowledge related to identifying chemicals involved in breast cancer. One in eight women develops breast cancer in her lifetime, and the disease is the second leading cause of death in adult women, said Sarah Janssen in a presentation at the February meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Janssen is one of the directors of BCCPP and a staff ...