Staten Island Breast Cancer Research Initiative: Length of residence on Staten Island, inter Island differences, puberty, and breast cancer mortality risk with respect to environmental contamination sites

Staten Island, NY (SI) is downwind from the largest petrochemical industry in the world, 40 EPA Superfund sites, (2 National Priority List [NPL], 9 Active and 29 Archived) and for more than 50 years harbored the largest open dump, Fresh Kills Landfill. Using breast cancer incidence and mortality data from New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH) respectively, it has been determined that SI has among the highest female breast cancer age-adjusted incidence and the highest age-adjusted mortality rate in the metropolitan region. Researchers at the Center for Environmental Science developed and validated a methodology for obtaining data from a combination of newspaper obituaries and death certificates. Death certificate data for breast cancer deaths were initially obtained for 1980-1990 and subsequently for 1991-2006 from NYCDOHMH as well as, a set of female controls for the same time periods. Life histories were compiled through obituary interviews for both cases and controls for the entire Island.  Neighborhoods (n=61) were obtained for individuals who spent their puberty years on Staten Island, subsequently combined into community districts (CD) (n=3) and examined for inter-Island differences. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to map all neighborhoods.  Preliminary analysis using logistic regression demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the risk for breast cancer mortality: [1] when residing on SI during puberty (p<0.001), and [2] with length of residence on SI (p< 0.001). However, preliminary analysis using logistic regression demonstrated no statistically significant increase in the risk for breast cancer mortality associated with specific neighborhood/community district residence during puberty years (CD1= p<0.12, CD2= p<0.07, CD=3 p<0.80).