University of Massachussetts Amherst Epidemiologist Examines Possible Connection Between Phthalates and Breast Cancer

A University of Massachussetts Amherst epidemiologist has been awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant to investigate a potential link between phthalates and breast cancer.

Phthalates are plasticizing, solvent chemicals found in products such as cosmetics, shampoos, flooring and medical tubing. Scientists have wondered for a long time whether phthalates impact human breast cancer risk, but lacked reliable data to draw a conclusion. Epidemiologist Katherine Reeves is on a mission to investigate phthalate metabolites – products found in urine samples after the chemicals have passed through the body – as nearly 100 percent of the U.S. population has measurable phthalate metabolites in their bodies, according to The Recorder.

Only a small handful of studies have examined whether phthalates affect human breast cancer risk, and none of them measured phthalate metabolites before a cancer diagnosis. For the study, Reeves, along with UMass Amherst biologist Thomas Zoeller, an expert in endocrine-disrupting chemicals; epidemiologist Sue Hankinson, and biostatistician Carol Bigelow will analyze levels of 11 phthalate metabolites in urine samples collected from 500 women with invasive breast cancer after Year 3 of follow-up and in 1,000 healthy matched controls. The study is nested within the Women’s Health Initiative, The Recorder reported.

“This study, where the samples were given many years before any sign of disease appeared, will give us much stronger evidence in terms of causality than studies using another design,” Reeves told The Recorder.

Researchers stored urine samples from baseline, Year 1, Year2 and Year 3, which will allow them to address variation in phthalate exposure. Reeves told The Recorder that she hopes “to provide not more uncertainty, but instead either reassurance or solid evidence of cause for concern” through the study. “It is well designed and large enough so no matter what answer we find we can have confidence in the result,” she added.

The study will seek to determine whether associations between phthalate metabolite levels and breast cancer vary by disease characteristics like hormone receptor status and personal factors including, age, postmenopausal hormone therapy use and body mass index, The Recorder wrote.

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