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The Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 5, pages 986–994 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

In the early 1990s, breast cancer advocates petitioned the United States Congress to investigate the high rates of breast cancer on Long Island in the state of New York. The resulting law led to the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP) — more than ten research projects designed to study the possible causes of this increased incidence of cancer. This project reported that there was no evidence that environmental exposures were responsible. Controversial from its start, the LIBCSP has had an important role in efforts to understand the reasons for the high rates of breast cancer in some regions of the United States.

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Figure 1: Map of mortality from breast cancer among white women in the United States for 1970–1994, by state economic area.
Figure 2: Map of breast cancer incidence in New York, 1993–1997, by ZIP code.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Iris Obrams, formerly of the National Cancer Institute, Linda Anderson of the National Cancer Institute and Marilie Gammon of the University of North Carolina, for their thoughtful reviews and suggestions.

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  1. the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch, Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program, Executive Plaza North, Room 5134, MSC 7393, 6130 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, 20892-7393, Maryland, USA

    Deborah M. Winn

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DATABASES

National Cancer Institute

breast cancer

FURTHER INFORMATION

Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers

Cancer and the environment

Cancer and the environment: what you need to know, what you can do

National Cancer Institute factsheet on cancer clusters

National Center of Environmental Health cancer clusters factpage

Geographical patterns of cancer mortality in the United States

Long Island GIS

Silent Spring Institute for Breast Cancer studies on Long Island

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Winn, D. The Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project. Nat Rev Cancer 5, 986–994 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1755

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