The National Cancer Institute will be holding a series of "Town Meetings" in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, the week of Oct. 18, as part of the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP).

The LIBCSP is a multi-million dollar, multi-study effort to investigate whether environmental factors are responsible for the high rates of breast cancer on Long Island. The average annual age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates are highest on Long Island of anywhere in New York State, based on information from 1992-1996. The LIBCSP is funded and coordinated by the National Cancer Institute, in collaboration with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The LIBCSP is part of the overall research approach of the National Institutes of Health to investigate the causes of breast cancer and ways to prevent it.

Congress mandated this study under Public Law 103-43, which was enacted in 1993. The law also directed that the study on Long Island "should include the use of a geographic system to evaluate the current and past exposure of individuals, including direct monitoring and cumulative estimates of exposure to (1) contaminated drinking water; (2) sources of indoor and ambient air pollution, including emissions from aircraft; (3) electromagnetic fields; (4) pesticides and other toxic chemicals; (5) hazardous and municipal waste; and (6) such other factors as the director [of NCI] determines appropriate."

The LIBCSP consists of more than 10 studies that include human population (epidemiologic) studies, the establishment of a family breast and ovarian cancer registry, and laboratory research on the mechanisms of action and susceptibility in development of breast cancer. Many of the studies for this project will be taking place at major medical research institutions across the Northeast, where the rate of breast cancer is the highest in the nation. At least $26 million will be spent on research at these facilities from 1993 through 2000.

A major component of this project is the Town Meetings being held this month in four different locations on Long Island. According to Paula Panissidi, of Prospect Associates, who is working with NCI on the town meetings, there is a two-fold purpose to these meetings. "We want them to know that the project is going on and that we will keep them updated, that they can always call with questions and that they will have access to some of this information as it comes in," said Panissidi. "But really, the goal, from our side of it, is to get information on anything that they may have that may contribute to this project."

Linda Anderson, director of communications for the LIBCSP explained that useful information that residents may have could prove vital to their research. Information that residents have about things such as gas stations that used to be on a property but there is no record of and other closed facilities such as underground fuel storage tanks; storage, maintenance and fueling facilities for trucks, buses and cars; power stations; military bases; and other small industries, past and present, is helpful to the project. There is no record of these facilities and the information about them may not be available in national, state, and local databases. Anderson noted, "No one knows Long Island like Long Island residents and there are a lot of longtime residents there, who know the history of their specific area." According to the Department of Health and Human Services, residents may have historical information on land use before the mid-1970s when record keeping improved to include agricultural crop lands.

The information gathered will help the study with its Geographic Information System. This system will consist of hardware, software, and data tables. The databases that will be included in this system are: Geographic framework data such as Nassau and Suffolk county base maps from the respective county governments, road maps from New York State and US Postal Service ZIP codes files; Demographic data such as that from the US Bureau of the Census, Medicare data from the US Health Care Financing Administration and data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys of the US National Center for Health Statistics; Health outcome and health care data, including breast cancer incidence and mortality, hospital discharge, and health facilities data from NYS.

Also included in the databases will be environmental data such as: land use, land cover, and railroads, from the US Geological Survey and Nassau and Suffolk Counties; traffic, from NYS; water use and potential sources of water pollution from USGS, Nassau and Suffolk counties, NYS and the Environmental Protection Agency; air pollution monitoring and potential point sources of air, water or soil contamination from Nassau and Suffolk counties, NYS and the EPA; chemical usage and release, and hazardous/toxic waste sites, from sources including the EPA, NYS and the United States Department of Agriculture; radiation, from the EPA; and power lines from NYS. Data from the EPA's biological monitoring of human exposure from human milk and adipose tissue surveys are also expected to be included as well as other data such as meteorological and climatological data from the state, weather charts for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, satellite image maps for the US Department of the Interior, and topographic data from the US Department of Commerce.

The GIS will provide a new tool for researchers, who want studies of breast cancer and the environment, to use. Eventually, according to Anderson, although this system is currently being set up to study breast cancer, it will be able to be used in the future for other health investigations.

The LIBCSP has a 15-member Ad Hoc Advisory Committee which oversees the overall project, including the GIS. The committee is made up of expert scientists and five community activists. Francine Kritchek, a breast cancer survivor and co-founder of Long Island's 1-in-9 Breast Cancer Action Coalition and a member of the Long Island Breast Cancer Network is one of the Ad Hoc committee members, with Geri Barish, also a co-founder of 1-in-9, serving as her alternate.

Medical records used, as well as the information collected at the town meetings will be stripped of names to protect the privacy of the individuals. A public website (http://www-dccps.ims.nci.nih.gov/LIBCSP) will provide reports on the progress of the developing system, summary information about its contents and, in time, according to Anderson, the results of the study will be put on a separate web site.

The Long Island Town Meetings will take place in:

Hauppauge, on Monday, Oct. 18, from 7-9 p.m. at Wyndham Wind Watch Hotel, 1717 Vanderbilt Motor Parkway;

Riverhead, on Tuesday, Oct. 19, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at Ramada East End, 1830 Route 25;

Hempstead, on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., 200 Hofstra University North Campus, 112 Student Center;

Brookville, on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at CW Post Campus, Long Island University, 720 Northern Blvd., Hillwood Commons Student Center.

People who cannot attend the town meetings may share their information by writing to: LIBCSP c/o NOVA Research Company, 4600 East-West Highway, Suite 700, Bethesda, MD 20814-3415.