BUSPH Sherr Lab Awarded Grant to Explore Environmental Link to Breast Cancer

Boston University School of Public Health Sherr Laboratory recently received a “Seed the Scientist” grant from Art beCAUSE, a Framingham, Massachusetts-based foundation, to research the relationship between environmental chemical exposure and breast cancer. The “Seed the Scientist” program was established in 2006. This is the second year that the Sherr Lab has been awarded a grant.

Research in the Sherr lab focuses on a class of common environmental pollutants and the cellular mechanism through which they induce normal cells to become cancerous. These chemicals (hydrocarbons) are produced in many industrial processes and are present in virtually every form of smoke, including automobile exhaust, charcoal fires, and power station discharge.

“In addition to investigating the relationship between environmental chemicals and human breast cancer, we will attempt to identify non-toxic, natural inhibitors that can be used as preventatives to block the effects of environmental carcinogens or as therapeutics to inhibit their activity in advanced mammary tumors,” explained Professor David Sherr, PhD, Boston University School of Public Health.

“Art beCAUSE is thrilled with the work being conducted at the Sherr Lab,” added Ellie Anbinder, executive director, Art beCAUSE, a six-year old grassroots non-profit whose mission is to fund research identifying the environmental causes of breast cancer. “We believe that the Lab is making significant progress. This is the second year we have funded the Lab and this grant for $12,500 will allow the Lab to continue its work. Art beCAUSE strongly supports the work being done at the Sherr Lab and is committed to fund many weeks of research in the future.”

The age-adjusted incidence of breast cancer in the United States increased ~1% per year between 1940 and 2000 such that breast cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women aged 20 to 59. One in eight American women can expect to be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. A substantial and growing body of evidence, including a recent analysis by the Silent Spring Institute of over 400 independent epidemiological studies, indicates that exposure to certain environmental chemicals contributes to the development and progression of breast cancer.

For more information about Art beCAUSE, visit http://www.artbecause.org/