Last Updated: 9/7/2006

Research Interests
Dr. Gammon's current research focuses on the identification of risk factors related to the incidence and survival of: (1) breast cancer, particularly estrogen-related factors that are potentially modifiable (e.g., physical activity, obesity, and environmental exposures, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and active and passive cigarette smoking), and (2) esophageal and gastric cancer (by determining the major contributors to disease burden e.g., cigarette smoking, obesity, and GERD). Research efforts include molecular epidemiologic techniques in an effort to elucidate inconsistent or modest effects.

Dr. Gammon is currently principal investigator of the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP), a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration to identify environmental risk factors for the disease. This population-based project includes three major components: a case-control study, a survivorship study, and molecular epidemiologic studies. The LIBCSP case-control study was funded by NCI and NIEHS. The study includes personal interviews with over 3,000 residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York State. Samples of blood and urine were donated by over 2,200 women, and environmental samples of dust, water, and soil were obtained from the homes of nearly 700 long-term residents. Seven manuscripts have been published to date; several others have been submitted or are nearly ready to submit. Analyses of the role of other environmental and modifiable lifestyle factors in breast cancer development are ongoing.

The LIBCSP survivorship study is one of the first to examine the potential influence of environmental factors on breast cancer mortality, and is funded by the NCI and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Breast cancer case women and/or their next of kin were recontacted to: determine vital status; obtain information on the breast cancer medical treatment undergone (including use of complimentary and alternative medicines); and assess any changes in behavior or environmental exposures that were reported at diagnosis (during the case-control interview). The study also includes retrieval and review of the subjects' medical records. Data analyses are underway.

The LIBCSP molecular epidemiology studies include laboratory assays on the biologic tissues collected as part of the parent case-control study. These include: blood (for measures of pesticides and PAH-DNA adducts); urine (for assays of estrogen metabolites); DNA (for genetic polymorphisms involved in the metabolism of environmental carcinogens and estrogen, oxidatative stress, and DNA repair); and archived tumor tissue (for immunohistochemical staining for p53 protein expression, HER-2/enu overexpression, and cyclin D). These molecular epidemiology studies are funded by over two dozen grants awarded to Dr. Gammon and her colleagues over the past five years; Funding agencies include the U.S. Army, American Cancer Society, Cancer Foundation of America, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the National Cancer Institute. The ongoing analyses are currently focused on the case-control comparisons to identify factors involved in breast cancer incidence; future analyses will focus on survivorship issues among the case women only.

Recent Accomplishments and Honors
Dr. Gammon's research efforts require the efforts of a multidisciplinary approach, a theme that is compatible with the UNC-CH Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility, which was funded by NIEHS. In 2001, Dr. Gammon was appointed Deputy Director of the Center. In 2003, Dr. Gammon was promoted to Professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. In 2000, Dr. Gammon was also appointed to the position of Associate Editor for the American Journal of Epidemiology, the premier publication of the discipline's largest professional organization.

In 2002, results of the main hypotheses of the case-control component of the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP), examining polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine levels in blood, along with a detailed description of the case-control study, were published. No association was observed between breast cancer risk and four organochlorine compounds (DDT, PCBs, Chlordane and Dieldrin), findings that are supported by other research studies including the Carolina Breast Cancer Study. These results are reassuring that breast cancer incidence does not appear to be influenced by these pesticides, as assessed in current serum samples. However, a modest, 50% elevation in risk for breast cancer was noted in relation to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts. PAHs are known mammary carcinogens in the rodent, however, this is the first major study to report on this potential relation among humans; thus, the findings need corroboration by others.

In 2003, results on the component of the LIBCSP that examined the potential relation with electromagnetic fields (EMF) were published. Among women who were long-term residents of Long Island, no association was observed between breast cancer incidence and EMF, regardless of the method used to assessed by an EMF meter measures in the respondent's home or by coding of the electrical wire distribution systems in or near the respondents home. Further, use of electric blanks (the single largest source of EMF) does not appear to increase the incidence of breast cancer. Theses results confirm earlier reports, and should help to ease the public's concern over the potential carcinogenicity to the breast of this ubiquitous exposure.

More recent efforts have focused on the role of energetics (weight, weight gain, physical activity and diet) in breast cancer risk and survival. In 2004, we reported our results on fruit and vegetable intake; among those who consumed five or more servings per day were 30% less likely to develop breast cancer. In a recent report published in 2005, we noted that among postmenopausal women those who gain weight after age 50 are more likely to develop breast cancer than those who maintain their weight, regardless of their weight at age 50.

Training

B.S., University of California, Berkeley, 1974
MSPH, University of Washington, Seattle, 1982
Ph.D., Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1989

Publications
(Selected from over 150 peer-reviewed publications.)

Gammon MD, Hibshoosh H, Terry MB, Bose S, Schoenberg JB, Brinton LA, Bernstein JL, Thompson WD. Cigarette smoking and other risk factors in relation to p53 protein expression in breast cancer among young women. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 1999;8:255-263.

Gammon MD, Hibshoosh H, Terry MB, Bose S, Schoenberg JB, Brinton LA, Bernstein JL, Thompson WD. Oral contraceptive use and other risk factors in relation to HER-2/neu overexpression in breast cancer among young women. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 1999;8:413-419.

Gammon MD, Neugut AI, Santella RM, Teitelbaum SL, Britton JA, Terry MB, Eng SM, Wolff MS, Stellman SD, Kabat GC, Levin B, Bradlow HL, Hatch M, Beyea J, Camann D, Trent M, Senie R, Garbowski G, Maffeo C, Montalvan P, Berkowitz G, Kemeny M, Citron C, Schnabel F, Schuss A, Hajdu S, Vinceguerra V, Collman GW, Obrams GI.The Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project: Description of a multi-institutional collaboration to identify environmental risk factors for breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 2002;74:235-254.

Gammon MD, Santella RM, Neugut AI, Eng SM, Teitelbaum SL, Paykin A, Levin B, Terry MB, Young TL, Wang LW, Wang Q, Britton JA, Wolff MS, Stellman SD, Hatch M, Kabat GC, Senie R, Garbowski G, Maffeo C, Berkowitz G, Kemeny M, Citron M, Schuss A, Hajdu S, Vinceguerra V. Environmental toxins and breast cancer on Long Island. I. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)-DNA adducts. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2002;11:677-685.

Gammon MD, Wolff MS, Neugut AI, Eng SM, Teitelbaum SL, Britton JA, Terry MB, Levin B, Stellman SD, Kabat GC, Hatch M, Senie R, Berkowitz G, Bradlow HL, Garbowski G, Maffeo C, Montalvan P, Kemeny M, Citron M Schnabel F, Schuss A, Hajdu S, Vinceguerra V, Santella RM. Environmental toxins and breast cancer on Long Island. II. Organochlorine compounds. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2002;11:686-697.

Schoenfeld ER, O'Leary ES, Henderson K, Grimson R, Kabat GD, Ahnn S, Kuane WT, Gammon MD, Leske MC for the EBCLIS group. Electromagnetic fields and breast cancer on Long Island: A case-control study. American Journal of Epidemiology 2003;158:47-58.

O'Leary ES, Schoenfeld ER, Henderson K, Grimson R, Kabat GC, Kuane WT, Gammon MD, Leske MC for the EBCLIS Group. Wire coding in the EMF and Breast cancer on long Island Study - Relationship to magnetic fields. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 2003;13:283-293.

Kabat GC, O'Leary ES, Schoenfeld ER, Green JM, Grimson R, Henderson K, Kuane WT, Gammon MD, Britton JA, Teitelbaum SL, Neugut AI, Leske MC for the EBCLIS group. Electric blanket use and breast cancer on Long Island. Epidemiology 2003;14;514-520.

Engel L S, Chow W-H, Vaughan TL, Gammon MD, Risch HA, Stanford JL, Schoenberg JB, Mayne ST, Dubrow R, Rotterdam H, West AB, Blaser M, Blot WJ, Gail M, Fraumeni, Jr.JF. Population attributable risks of esophageal and gastric cancers. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2003;95:1404-13.

Teitelbaum ST, Britton JA, Gammon MD, Schoenberg JB, Brogan Dr, Coates RJ, Daling JR, Malone K, Swanson CA, Brinton LA. Occupation and breast cancer in women under 45 years of age. Cancer Causes and Control 2003;14:627-37.

Gammon MD, Eng SM, Teitelbaum SL, Kabat GC, Britton JA, Terry MB, Neugut AI, Santella RM. Environmental tobacco smoke and breast cancer incidence. Environmental Research 2004;96:176-85.

Gammon MD, Terry MB, Arber N, Chow W-H, Risch HA, Vaughan TL, Schoenberg JB, Mayne ST, Stanford JL, Dubrow R, Rotterdam H, West AB, Fraumeni JF, Weinstein IB, Hibshoosh H. NSAID use associated with a decrease in the incidence of esophageal and gastric cardia adenocarcinomas that overexpress cyclin D1: a population-based study. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2004;13;34-39.

Gaudet MM, Britton JA, Kabat GC, Steck-Scott S, Eng SM, Teitelbaum SL, Terry MB, Neugut AI, Gammon MD. Intake of vegetables, fruits, and antioxidant vitamins and breast cancer characterized by hormone receptor status. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention 2004;13:1485-94.

Gammon MD, Sagiv SK, Eng SM, Shantakumar S, Gaudet MM, Teitelbaum SL, Britton JA, Terry MB, Wang LW, Wang Q, Stellman SD, Beyea J, Hatch M, Kabat GC, Wolff MS, Levin B, Neugut AI, Santella RM. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)-DNA adducts and breast cancer: a pooled analysis. Archives of Environmental Health 2004;59(12):640-9.

Eng SM, Gammon MD, Terry MB, Kushi LH, Teitelbaum SL, Britton JA, Neugut AI. Body size changes in relation to postmenopausal breast cancer among women on Long Island, New York. American Journal of Epidemiology 2005;162:229-37.

Santella RM, Gammon M, Terry M, Senie R, Shen J, Kennedy D, Agrawal M, Faraglia B, Zhang FF. DNA adducts, DNA repair genotype/phenotype and cancer risk. Mutation Research 2005; 592:29-35.

Terry MB, Gammon MD, Zhang FF, Kabat GC, Britton JA, Teitelbaum SL, Neugut AI. Lifetime alcohol intake and breast cancer risk. Annals of Epidemiology 2006;16(3):230-240.

Cleveland RJ, Gammon MD, Edminston SN, Teitelbaum SL, Britton JA, Terry MB, Eng SM, Neugut AI, Santella RM, Conway K. Interactions between IGF1 genotype and known risk factors for breast cancer in the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project. Carcinogenesis 2006;27(4):758-765.

E-mail: gammon@unc.edu
Telephone: 919-966-7421
FAX: 919-966-2089
Address: McGavran-Greenberg Hall, Department of Epidemiology, CB#7435 Chapel Hill, NC

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