Challenging dominant breast cancer research agendas: perspectives on the outcomes of the interagency breast cancer and environment research coordinating committee

Abstract

Background As breast cancer rates increase globally, there is growing scientific consensus that greater understanding of the causes of breast cancer is needed to better prevent its occurrence. Genetics accounts for a small percentage of cases, thus environmental factors and epigenetics are increasingly suspect in breast cancer etiology. Within the breast cancer and environmental breast cancer social movements, there are longstanding calls for research and policy aimed toward the prevention of breast cancer. To better understand the opportunities and barriers to addressing environmental contributors to breast cancer, this article investigates both outcomes and perceptions of stakeholders involved in the Interagency Breast Cancer and Environment Research Coordinating Committee (IBCERCC). The IBCERCC was mandated by the 2008 U.S. Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act, a law representing years of advocate and researcher efforts to produce national strategies and federal funding for breast cancer prevention research. Methods To understand the meaning and impact of the IBCERCC advisory committee and final report, Prioritizing Prevention , I draw on fifteen confidential semi-structured interviews with members of the twenty-five person IBCERCC, in addition to six confidential semi-structured interviews with key breast cancer funders, advocates, and researchers affiliated with national reports on environmental contributors to cancer. I examine media coverage, congressional hearing transcripts, and official responses to the release of the IBCERCC report by governmental and non-governmental organizations. Results Interviews and publicly available documents reveal a set of direct and indirect outcomes of the 2013 IBCERCC report. Interviewees in government positions perceived the 2014 renewal of the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program to result from IBCERCC efforts, notable in the context of declining U.S. federal research funding. Interviews also revealed a suite of potential barriers to the implementation of report recommendations including: distinct interpretations of the federal mandate, disparate assessments of scientific evidence, government funding crises, and lack of specificity around responsibility for implementation of report findings. Conclusion This article examines efforts to shift institutional research and funding priorities in cancer research towards prevention. Social science research can support efforts to shift institutional priorities by identifying broader social contexts and underlying values typically unnamed in scientific discourse Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12940-019-0479-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Theranostic Interpolation of Genomic Instability in Breast Cancer

“…Breast cancer is the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost in women worldwide. Breast cancer affects women of all ages after puberty; however, the incidence rises with age [2,3]. In the United States, approximately 160,000 patients suffered from advanced breast cancer [4].…”

Barriers and opportunities for breast cancer organizations to focus on environmental health and disease prevention: a mixed-methods approach using website analyses, interviews, and focus groups

“…In all of these cases, breast cancer activists have not just initiated new federal and state legislation but have been important contributors to research design and implementation [22]. In addition, breast cancer advocacy groups, such as the National Breast Cancer Coalition, were crucial to the creation of significant federal reports, albeit in the case of the IBCERCC report, some were angered that federal funds shifted from an original intent to support new research to funding a report [27].…”