Introduction

1. Introduction Breast cancer is the MOST common cancer affecting women, & Long Island exemplifies this phenomenon Breast cancer kills the MOST women out of ALL other cancer-related deaths Over 80% of breast cancer tumors are activated by estrogen Long Island consistently exhibits ABOVE EXPECTED rates of breast cancer Long Island exhibits one of the highest breast cancer deaths • Long Island has unique reserve of 4-Nonylphenol (4-NP) in its environment (Jacquez, 2001) •  Long Island (NY) covered by farms (since 17th century) Environmental toxins are involved in the development of breast cancer Estrogen increases breast cancer risk, causes birth defects + learning disabilities  Shown to interfere with hormonally-mediated pathways OVER half of the reported cases of breast cancer cannot be explained by known risk factors  Therefore, external factors must contribute to increased breast cancer risk Hypothesis We hypothesize that 4-NP and estrogen will induce similar regulation of gene expression in U937 human immune cells, suggesting that 4-NP indeed mimics estrogen in the body, augmenting breast cancer risk.