Oral Contraceptive Use and HER-2/neu-Positive Breast Cancer Among White and BlackWomen

摘要

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the risk of breast cancer isincreased among women with tumors that are positive for the tumor marker HER-2/neu and who also have a history of oral contraceptive use, or other risk factors for breast cancer. As recommended by the scientific review committee, other funding has been obtained to expand the number of tumor markers examined; these include p53 and cyclin Dl. Study methods include: (1) retrieval of the pathology specimens for 511 cases from over 30 hospitals in the study area; (2) performing laboratory assays for the tumor markers by immunohistochemistry; and (3) combining lab results with the previously collected questionnaire data to statistically evaluate the interactions between tumor markers and breast cancer risk factors. Pathology materials have been successfully obtained from over 70% of the hospitals; this includes over one-half of the study cases. Laboratory assays are complete in over a third of all cases. Study progress is on target for completion of the study at the end of year two as planned.