Although women have little or no control over some of the risk factors for breast cancer, such as those related to aging and genetics, they may be able to reduce their chances for developing the disease by avoiding certain environmental risks.

BREAST CANCER AND THE ENVIRONMENT: A LIFE COURSE APPROACH, a new report from the Institute of Medicine, assesses the breast cancer risk posed by various environmental factors, identifies actions that offer potential to reduce women’s risk for the disease, and recommends targets for future research.

The report, sponsored by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, will be released with a press briefing and presented at a plenary session at the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). The report will be released on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at a one-hour press briefing starting at 1:30 p.m. EST/12:30 p.m. CST in Room 217D of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, 200 E. Market St., San Antonio. Participants from the committee that wrote the report are:

Irva Hertz-Picciotto (chair), professor and chief, division of environmental and occupational health, University of California, Davis

David Eaton, associate vice provost for research, and professor and director, Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health, University of Washington, Seattle

Robert A. Hiatt, professor and chair, department of epidemiology and biostatistics, and director. population sciences, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco

Cheryl Lyn Walker, Welch Professor and director, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station

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National Academy of Sciences
The report will be discussed at a SABCS plenary session beginning at 2:45 p.m. EST/1:45 p.m. CST in Exhibit Hall D of the convention center.