How scientific research on the causes of breast cancer influences public policy locally and globally as well as right-to-know issues about diet, pesticides and breast cancer risk will be major topics of discussion when Cornell University's Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology (ICET) convenes a two-day symposium, Sept. 29-30, on "The Science that Drives Policy: Pesticides, Diet and Breast Cancer Risk."

Beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29, at the Triphammer Lodge and Conference Center in Ithaca, symposium speakers from universities, research institutes and government agencies will discuss how federal agencies test whether a pesticide may cause cancer, who monitors the maximum levels of pesticide residues allowed in our food supply, consumer right-to-know issues on pesticide residues, testing pesticides for hormone-like action, whether pesticides and other environmental chemicals affect breast cancer risk, foods that may reduce the risk of breast cancer and what women can do now to reduce their risk of breast cancer.

New York Times "Personal Health" columnist and author Jane E. Brody will deliver a keynote address, following a Monday evening dinner, on the topic, "The Real Breast Cancer Risks: Getting the Right Word Out."

By the conclusion of the symposium, participant work groups are expected to have recommendations and plans for action on three key issues: determining cancer risk, communicating risks and developing policy options.

The symposium is open to the interested public for a $125 registration fee, including meals. Cornell graduate students may pre-register to attend plenary and work-group sessions at no charge. The symposium is supported in part by Texaco Inc. and Bristol-Myers-Squibb Co. through their membership in CUPCET, ICET's corporate affiliate education program, and by the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors (BCERF) through a grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Information on the symposium schedule and registration is available from ICET at (607) 255-8008 and on the Internet at http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/bcerf/ICETsymp.html.

"This symposium is unique since it brings together experts in the scientific, corporate, public policy and government arenas as well as the general public to wrestle with how scientific findings influence legislation and public policy," said Suzanne M. Snedeker, chair of the steering committee and research project leader for BCERF. "For example, new legislation was passed last summer mandating that pesticides be tested for hormone-like effects because of studies suggesting that breast cancer risk may be increased in some women exposed to pesticides known to act like the hormone estrogen."

Pointing to research conducted in China and in this country that suggests a diet high in vegetables and fruits may decrease breast cancer risk, Snedeker predicted changes in public health policy worldwide.

"There are some very controversial issues to be considered," the BCERF project leader said, "but we hope to generate a consensus in our workgroup sessions and make recommendations that will influence those in decision-making positions. This symposium may serve as a model of how to facilitate an exchange of information between policy-makers, scientists and the general public on cancer-related issues."

1997 ICET Symposium

"The Science that Drives Policy: Pesticides, Diet and Breast Cancer Risk"

Sept. 29-30, 1997

Monday, Sept. 29

• 8:30-9 a.m., Karl Baetcke, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "New Initiatives in the EPA's Cancer Risk Assessment Processes."
• 9-9:30 a.m., Patricia Fail, Research Triangle Institute, "Assessing Estrogenicity and Other

Endocrine Activity of Pesticides."

• 9:30-10 a.m., Joseph Hotchkiss, Department of Food Science, Cornell University, "Pesticide Residue Tolerances in Food: The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act."
• 10:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Workgroups A, B, C: "Determining Cancer Risk (A)," "Communicating Risks (B)," "Developing Policy Options (C)."
• 1:30-2 p.m., Nancy Potischman, National Cancer Institute, "Early Life Exposures and Risk of Breast Cancer."
• 2-2:30 p.m., Jo Freudenheim, SUNY Buffalo, "Vegetables, Fruits and Associated Nutrients: Relationship to Breast Cancer Risk."
• 2:30-3 p.m., Banoo Parpia, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, "Nutrition and Breast Cancer: Results from the Cornell-China-Oxford Project."
• 3:30-5:30 p.m. Workgroups A, B, C.
• 7-9 p.m. Dinner, followed by speaker, Jane E. Brody, New York Times, "The Real Breast Cancer Risks: Getting the Word Out."

Tuesday, Sept. 30

• 8:15-8:45 a.m., Graham Colditz, Harvard School of Public Health, "What Women Can Do to Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer."
• 8:45-9:15 a.m., Marilie Gammon, Columbia University, "DDT, PCBs and Breast Cancer Risk."
• 9:15-11 a.m., Workgroups A, B, C.
• 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m., Concluding Session, Francille Firebaugh, dean, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, moderator, with workshop co-chairs presenting their final reports.