Goal: Expand teacher cancer study

Pat Geyer figured rolling up her sleeve and giving a little blood was the least she could do for her fellow female teachers.

The blood sample she gave in September is part of ongoing research into cancer causes among California women, using teachers as a study population.

"They're looking for genetic markers. Hopefully, the results of the study will provide insights into the causes of breast cancer," said Geyer, a retired high school history and economics teacher.

The 71-year-old Sacramentan isn't alone.

For the past dozen years, thousands of female public school teachers and administrators like Geyer have helped advance statewide research into breast cancer and other women's health issues. Now researchers with the California Teachers Study are looking to expand the participant pool to include younger teachers.

In collaboration with the California State Teachers' Retirement System, researchers have been able to gather data from more than 133,000 teachers in grades kindergarten through community college – both retirees and those currently in the classroom – who volunteered to take part in a series of cancer research questionnaires.

"It's one of the largest research studies ever done in the U.S. There are so many researchers around the country that have come to us (about it)," said Dennis Deapen, a USC Department of Preventive Medicine professor and one of 16 study investigators.

Last week, Deapen detailed to CalSTRS trustees a proposal to expand the participant pool to include younger educators, those who started their teaching careers after 1995. Currently, the majority of volunteers are in their late 50s and early 60s. By surveying younger teachers, researchers hope to collect comparative information before the women reach menopause age.

Launched in 1995, the California Teachers Study is considered by some researchers to be the "gold standard" because of the project's longevity and its large number of participants. The project is coordinated by a consortium of researchers from the state Department of Health Services, the Fremont-based Northern California Cancer Center, UC Irvine and the University of Southern California.

The research consortium plans to apply for $10 million in federal funding to extend the project through 2014. It also wants an estimated $1 million in additional funds to broaden the participant pool to younger teachers.

"We're looking to the future to establish a younger cohort," said Rich Pinder, the study's program manager.

Colleen Sweeney, co-director of breast cancer research at the UC Davis Cancer Center, said the teachers' study has gathered invaluable information for researchers.

"It's an incredible resource. This study really covers such a broad range of risk factors," Sweeney said. "We're just beginning to understand the things that are influencing breast cancer. If they shut down that study, we're going to (lose) access."

Researchers consider teachers an ideal study group because they are easy to track through their retirement system, have a similar amount of education and are familiar with survey techniques.

"Teachers are just naturally investigative. We want to do what we can to enhance our learning environment," said Andrea Mello, 58, a breast cancer survivor and American government teacher at Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks.

She volunteered for the study a year after being diagnosed. Mello is willing to do "anything to try to find a cure. There are too many women who come up with the disease."

Geyer, who's never been diagnosed with cancer, agrees. "The more information we have, the better off we will be."

This September, Geyer had 30 milliliters – or roughly three teaspoons – of blood drawn for an ancillary study of roughly 5,000 teachers to determine if there are any genetic differences between those who've had breast cancer and those who have not.

Previous studies have indicated that California's female teachers are more prone to some cancers than the rest of the state's female population.

For example, teachers have a 51 percent higher rate of breast cancer compared with other women of similar age and race. Researchers can't entirely explain the reason, but suggest it could be because teachers often wait to have children until they are older.

Over the years, California's women teachers have contributed information used in two dozen research publications about cancer and the disease's relationship with exercise, wine and alcohol consumption, exposure to tobacco smoke, vitamin supplements and diet.

Researchers also have looked into possible connections between cancer and a teacher's place of residence, including communities near farm fields that are exposed to agricultural pesticides.

"It has been a great collaboration for CalSTRS to put researchers in touch (with members)," said Dana Dillon, CalSTRS board chairwoman. "The information they have been able to get has continued to be important to cancer research."

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