"Research shows that early life events, especially during puberty, can impact later risk," she said. "We want to study how these early life factors may modify later risk of breast cancer."

That information then can be used to develop interventions to help women prevent the disease.

"Given the dramatic increase in obesity and type-2 diabetes in both adults and children, it also is imperative we understand associations between these factors and breast cancer among groups at highest risk for these conditions."

The researchers will study 2,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2010 and 2014 in metropolitan Detroit and Los Angeles County. They will be identified by a National Cancer Institute cancer registry. Another 2,000 women without breast cancer will be randomly selected from these two areas.

"We have an amazing, cross-disciplinary team of committed scientists from fields including social science, epidemiology, survey design, statistical genetics, physiology and pathology," Velie said.

Source: Michigan State University