) The candidate, Dr. Timothy Lash, has been committed to cancer research since the beginning of his career. He studied molecular biology, including tumor biology, as an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon graduating, he worked as a consultant in environmental health on projects that required dose-response assessment of environmental and occupational carcinogens. Simultaneously, he completed a Masters of Public Health and the coursework for a Doctorate of Science in Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. The curricula for these degrees included many courses directly relevant to cancer prevention and control. He has worked on research projects involving breast cancer etiology, therapy, and side-effects of therapy under the direction of the proposed mentor (Dr. Rebecca Silliman) and the proposed co-mentor (Dr. Ann Aschengrau). Dr. Lash is currently an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. He spends 75 percent of his effort on research projects directly relevant to the proposed research plan. For example, he is the project director on a study of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy in old age. Dr. Silliman is the Principal Investigator of the project, which will provide the cohort of breast cancer patients eligible for the second proposed study. Dr. Lash also works with Dr. Aschengrau, the proposed co-mentor, on analyses of the effect of active and passive smoking on breast cancer occurrence. The most recent case-control data set in which these analyses have been performed will provide the subjects eligible for the first proposed study. The environment at the Boston University Medical Center is ideally suited for accomplishing the career development goals of this application. The research plan proposes two studies of the interaction between tobacco smoke and NAT2 or COMT genetic polymorphisms. The association between tobacco smoke and breast cancer risk is complicated. It has been hypothesized that tobacco smoke exposure may both cause and prevent breast cancer, depending on the timing of exposure relative to reproductive milestones. The interaction with tobacco smoke exposure with the gene polymorphisms will allow tests of these hypotheses. The first study would collect buccal swabs from eligible participants of the second Cape Cod case-control study (Dr. Aschengrau was PI). Existing interview information would be combined with the polymorphism data extracted from the swabs to assess the interaction between the polymorphisms and tobacco smoke subgroups under a biologically based etiologic model of breast carcinogenesis. The second study would collect buccal swabs from participants in the study of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy (Dr. Silliman PI). A similar analytic plan would be conducted, but with a case-only design.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Academic/Teacher Award (ATA) (K07)
Project #
5K07CA087724-04
Application #
6613408
Study Section
Subcommittee G - Education (NCI)
Program Officer
Gorelic, Lester S
Project Start
2000-08-04
Project End
2004-07-31
Budget Start
2003-02-01
Budget End
2004-01-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$112,611
Indirect Cost
Name
Boston University
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
604483045
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02118
Lash, Timothy L; Fox, Matthew P; Westrup, Jennifer L et al. (2006) Adherence to tamoxifen over the five-year course. Breast Cancer Res Treat 99:215-20
Lash, Timothy L; Fox, Matthew P; Silliman, Rebecca A (2006) Reduced mortality rate associated with annual mammograms after breast cancer therapy. Breast J 12:2-6
Westrup, Jennifer L; Lash, Timothy L; Thwin, Soe Soe et al. (2006) Risk of decline in upper-body function and symptoms among older breast cancer patients. J Gen Intern Med 21:327-33
Lash, Timothy L; Bradbury, Brian D; Wilk, Jemma B et al. (2005) A case-only analysis of the interaction between N-acetyltransferase 2 haplotypes and tobacco smoke in breast cancer etiology. Breast Cancer Res 7:R385-93
Lash, Timothy L; Clough-Gorr, Kerri; Silliman, Rebecca A (2005) Reduced rates of cancer-related worries and mortality associated with guideline surveillance after breast cancer therapy. Breast Cancer Res Treat 89:61-7
Lash, Timothy L; Gurwitz, Jerry H; Silliman, Rebecca A (2005) Physicians' assessments of adjuvant tamoxifen's effectiveness in older patients with primary breast cancer. J Am Geriatr Soc 53:1889-96
Thwin, Soe Soe; Fink, Aliza K; Lash, Timothy L et al. (2005) Predictors and outcomes of surgeons' referral of older breast cancer patients to medical oncologists. Cancer 104:936-42
Lash, Timothy L; Fink, Aliza K (2004) Null association between pregnancy termination and breast cancer in a registry-based study of parous women. Int J Cancer 110:443-8
Fink, Aliza K; Gurwitz, Jerry; Rakowski, William et al. (2004) Patient beliefs and tamoxifen discontinuance in older women with estrogen receptor--positive breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 22:3309-15
Fink, Aliza K; Lash, Timothy L (2003) A null association between smoking during pregnancy and breast cancer using Massachusetts registry data (United States). Cancer Causes Control 14:497-503

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