Actions that may reduce the risk of breast cancer, including steps families can take to reduce risk, will be described at an educational symposium sponsored by Smith Barney Inc. and Cornell on Monday, Sept. 9, at 5:30 p.m. in the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center.
Speaking at the program, which also will describe state and federal initiatives to reduce the risk of breast cancer, will be Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.), U.S. Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-18th), Smith Barney CEO and Chairman James Dimon, Cornell President Hunter Rawlings and Executive Vice President Jessica Bibliowicz, head of Smith Barney Mutual Funds. Dimon will present a $10,000 gift from the Travellers Foundation to Cornell to support its program in breast cancer education and research.
June Fessenden MacDonald, chair of the Cornell Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in New York State (BCERF), will advise women about the most recent research findings on breast cancer risk and how information can be used to make personal choices to reduce risk for themselves and their daughters. She is a member of the Institute of Comparative and Environmental Toxicology and associate professor of biochemistry and biology and society at Cornell.
Among the points MacDonald will make in her presentation that will launch a campaign for breast cancer risk reduction are:
·The U.S. has a high incidence of breast cancer, which kills 44,000 women a year.
·There is growing interest in events in childhood and adolescence that may increase women's risk.
·Intergenerational risk management will be stressed. Mothers, daughters and grandmothers should learn about risks and together plan strategies to reduce risk at all stages of life.
·A diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains that provides plenty of antioxidant vitamins and dietary fiber may have a beneficial effect in reducing risk.
·Being active throughout life may reduce breast cancer risk.
·Although scientists have collected much data about the incidence and established risk factors of breast cancer, there is no explanation for more than half the cases of breast cancer. Much more research still needs to be done, and the public must be kept informed of how the risks can be reduced.
BCERF was established at Cornell in November 1995 at the urging of D'Amato, with additional support from Lowey, and has received funding in the 1996-97 state and federal budgets.
Utilizing its scope as New York's land-grant university, Cornell has drawn together a multidisciplinary team of scientists and educators from the Cornell Medical College in New York City and the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Human Ecology and Veterinary Medicine and Division of Biological Sciences. Scientists in the fields of toxicology, environmental studies, nutrition, food safety, risk communication, public policy and clinical medicine are collecting and analyzing data so that they can provide science-based information to policy-makers and the general public about breast cancer risk reduction.
Cornell's statewide network of Cooperative Extension associations in each county, working with other organizations, will be involved in educational programs for the public.
Among the activities BCERF will be conducting to inform women about breast cancer and risk reduction are the production and distribution of printed fact sheets, regional meetings and teleconferences. In the planning stages is a toll-free telephone "helpline."
Information can be obtained directly from the BCERF office at 254-2893, e-mail breastcancer@cornell.edu, from most Cornell Cooperative Extension offices throughout the state and on the World Wide Web at http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/bcerf