Representing North Carolina’s Ninth District                                                                        

Reps. Myrick and Lowey Introduce Breast Cancer Research Bill

(Washington, D.C.) – On Tuesday, May 10, 2005, U.S. Representative Sue Myrick (NC-9), and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) introduced The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act.  This bill would study how the effects of the environment may contribute to the development of breast cancer.

Approximately three million women in the United States are currently living with breast cancer. Two million have been diagnosed, and an estimated one million more do not yet know they have the disease.  258,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States this year, and 40,000 women will die of this disease.

“The causes of breast cancer are largely unknown, but I believe that the environment plays a role in its development,” said Rep. Myrick, a breast cancer survivor.  “That is why I have joined Rep. Lowey in introducing the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act.  This bill will provide key incentives to expanding our search for not just a cure, but to prevent breast cancer in the first place.”

The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act would authorize the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to provide grants that would establish and operate research centers to study environmental factors potentially linked to the development of breast cancer. 

There have been isolated studies on potential environmental links to breast cancer, however, no long-term comprehensive studies have taken place. This bill would help initiate more in-depth research to explain the impact of the environment on breast cancer.  This legislation is identical to a bill Rep. Myrick introduced in the previous Congress (HR 1746), which had 210 cosponsors.   

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