Staten Island Breast Cancer Research Initiative: Mortality risk and environmental factors associated with breast cancer mortality in relation to length of residence and birthplace on Staten Island, New York

Staten Island, NY (SI) is downwind from the largest petrochemical industry in the world, Brookfield (EPA Superfund site) and for more than 50 years, has harbored the world's largest open dump, Fresh Kills Landfill. A region rich in environmental exposures, Staten Island has among the highest female breast cancer age-adjusted incidence and the highest age-adjusted mortality rate in the New York metropolitan region. Because recent research in adult chronic disease development has indicated critical life stages, such as in utero and puberty periods, to be of particular interest, researchers at the Staten Island Breast Cancer Research Initiative have conducted a study examining residence and birthplace variables with respect to female breast cancer mortality on SI. Researchers at the Center for Environmental Science have previously developed and validated a methodology for obtaining data from a combination of newspaper obituaries and death certificates. Death certificate data for female breast cancer deaths, as well as a set of female controls, were obtained for 1980-1990 from the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH). Using birthplace codes as a proxy for in utero environmental exposures and residence histories as a measure of exposure over a lifetime, life histories were compiled for both cases and controls. All data were mapped using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in order to examine the association between residences on SI and major environmental exposure sites. Preliminary analysis using multiple logistic regression demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the risk for breast cancer associated with length of residence on SI (p<0.001) and birthplace on SI (p<0.045). Our preliminary results indicate that environmental exposures and events sustained over a lifespan, in addition to critical developmental periods, may result in an increased risk of breast cancer mortality for SI females.