Dr. Electra Paskett (43017), associate director for population sciences at the OSUCCC and holder of the Marion N. Rowley Designated Chair in Cancer Research at Ohio State, will join 62 other scientists nationwide in receiving $11.2 million from the BCRF at the organization's seventh annual awards luncheon in New York City on Oct. 10.

Paskett says her grant of $250,000 will support one of the first studies at the OSUCCC that will be conducted under the auspices of the new Breast Cancer Prevention Through Nutrition Program. The study will compare a low-fat with a low-sugar diet to see if either is able to reduce a woman's chances of developing breast cancer.

"We know that women recognize the relationship between nutrition and health, but they are being bombarded with misleading information that comes from the promotion of fads and quick fix-it schemes rather than findings of scientific fact," says Paskett. "I am grateful to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation for its support in this new initiative."

Last year, Paskett received a similar award to study soy and tomatoes as dietary factors that may inhibit breast cancer. The new study will enroll 140 pre-menopausal women who will be randomized to either a low fat or a low sugar diet for one year. Participants in both arms will be encouraged to exercise and will be monitored for changes in a number of key biomarkers that may be linked to the development of breast cancer.

Some studies suggest a link between a high-fat diet and breast cancer. Laboratory tests have shown that animals placed on high-fat diets develop breast tumors at a higher rate than those on low-fat diets. "But we don't really know exac
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Contact: Michelle Gailiun
gailiun.1@osu.edu
614-293-6054
Ohio State University Medical Center
10-Oct-2002