Grant Title: Breast Cancer Risk and Molecular Change after Chernobyl
Study Title: Risk of Breast Cancer in the Bryansk Oblast (RACER)
Role: Co-Investigator
R01 CA118914 (Scott Davis, PhD)

The overall purpose of this study is to investigate whether individual radiation dose to the breast from the Chernobyl accident is associated with breast cancer risk and whether the association with radiation dose differs according to specific characteristics of breast cancer, and evaluating the relationship of breast cancer phenotype and genotype to radiation dose by comparing rates of inactivating genetic or epigenetic changes in selected DNA repair genes to radiation dose. Additionally, we are investigating whether established risk factors for breast cancer modify the radiation dose response and, if so, how and to what extent and whether these risk factors exhibit effects according to clinical and pathological characteristics which are different than observed in the U.S. and other Western countries.