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Could building materials increase incidence?

Page last modified on: October 2, 2008

Question from CBabe: I worked for a company for 5 years where 6 women in our department got cancer. The building contained asbestos and other toxins. Could this be coincidence?: Answers —Devra Davis, Ph.D., M.P.H.: The asbestos studies that have been done clearly show an increase in a number of respiratory cancers in workers. Most of the workers studied have been men. There is a very clear suggestion of an increased risk in breast cancer in women who did work with asbestos. The number of women concerned is small, so the association did not achieve what we call statistical significance.

There could be an association between asbestos and breast cancer and frankly, if the environment included asbestos, it may have included other [harmful] agents as well. I'm not aware that brain cancer is associated with asbestos, but that doesn't mean there is no association, only that we don't have evidence that there is.; Jennifer Griggs, M.D., M.P.H.: Clearing asbestos is not the answer either since removal of asbestos increases the fibers in the environment, which can cause damage.

On Wednesday, August 17, 2005, our Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Environmental Issues and Breast Cancer. Devra Lee Davis, Ph.D., M.P.H., Sue Heffelfinger, M.D., Ph.D., and moderator Jennifer Griggs, M.D., M.P.H. answered your questions about which environmental hazards may increase your risk for breast cancer and how you can reduce them in the home and workplace.

The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.

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Meet the Experts

Devra Lee Davis, Ph.D., MPH Devra Lee-Davis, Ph.D., M.P.H. directs the Environmental Oncology Center at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

Sue Heffelfinger, M.D., Ph.D. is director of an NIH Center for Breast Cancer and the Environment at the University of Cincinnati and also associate professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine.

Jennifer Griggs, M.D., M.P.H. is a medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of breast cancer, with a a special interest in cancer survivorship, patient-physician communication, and quality of care for women with breast cancer.