American Indian and Alaska Native women are needed to join a landmark study to discover the causes of breast cancer. The Sister Study will enroll 50,000 women whose sisters had breast cancer. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services is conducting the study, with additional funding from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
By joining the Sister Study, women can help researchers learn how environment and genes may affect the chances of getting breast cancer. American Indian and Alaska Native sisters have powerful information to share. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among these women. In recent years, their death rate due to the disease has risen in certain areas of the United States, and the five-year survival rate is lower than for white women. Scientists have little information on cancer histories in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Women are eligible for the study if they have a sister, living or deceased, related by blood, who had breast cancer; are between the ages of 35 and 74; have never had breast cancer themselves; and live in the U.S.
To participate in the Sister Study, please call 877-474-7837, 866-TTY-4SIS for the deaf/hard of hearing, or visit their website at www.sisterstudy.org.
