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Environmental endocrine disruptors: rethinking the origins of early-onset ER+ breast cancer

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 25, pages 819–820 (2025)Cite this article

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Rising rates of early-onset oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer in women without genetic risk suggest a shift in disease biology. Chronic and cumulative exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals may induce field cancerization in the breast, warranting urgent attention from researchers, regulators and public health leaders.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Find the Cause Breast Cancer Foundation for supporting this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Meadow Parrish & Charlotte Kuperwasser

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  1. Meadow Parrish
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  2. Charlotte Kuperwasser
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Correspondence to Charlotte Kuperwasser.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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EnviroAtlas Interactive Map: https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-interactive-map

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Parrish, M., Kuperwasser, C. Environmental endocrine disruptors: rethinking the origins of early-onset ER+ breast cancer. Nat Rev Cancer 25, 819–820 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-025-00854-3

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