To address cancer prevention across all segments of the population, CPIC scientists rigorously examine the disparities in cancer occurrence across subsets of the population. They have produced groundbreaking findings on why there is a higher incidence of certain types of cancer among various racial, ethnic, cultural and social groups.

In 2007, CPIC scientists found a higher than expected prevalence of BRCA1 genetic mutations in Latina and young African American women, suggesting some women in those groups have a higher risk for breast cancer than others. CPIC's current work includes studies of vulnerabilities in Vietnamese populations including low colorectal cancer screening and potentially hazardous workplace exposures. CPIC scientists are among the first to study how our neighborhoods and other aspects of our built, or man-made, environment can contribute to cancer development.  

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

The most recent CPIC findings about breast cancer have garnered international attention. In 2009, CPIC scientists demonstrated an increased risk of this common disease among women exposed to second-hand smoke over their lifetimes. The organization is recognized as the first to identify the markedly high rates of breast cancer in Marin County, California, in the 1990s.  It also tracked the subsequent dramatic decreases in breast cancer rates in this area and identified some of the individual lifestyle factors associated with these important improvements.

CPIC researchers figure prominently in a number of collaborative studies such as the international Breast Cancer Family Registry, the California Teachers Study, and the new ATHENA Breast Health Network, a system-wide program with the University of California system led by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).  

SOURCE Cancer Prevention Institute of California