Living near a Superfund pollution site may boost risk of aggressive types of breast cancer

Woman performing breast cancer self-check. Image credit – University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

CANCER DIGEST – Oct. 12, 2025 – Women diagnosed with breast cancer have a higher risk of aggressive and hard to treat cancers if they live near an EPA designated Superfund site, according to a pair of population studies conducted by researchers at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami.

According to a recent NIH study, the incidence of aggressive cancers, particularly triple-negative breast cancer is on the rise. These are breast cancers that have no receptors for HER2, estrogen or progesterone. Such breast cancers tend to be aggressive, fast growing and are difficult to treat. 

Among researchers working to understand why that might be is a team from the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine led by Erin Kibitz, PhD, MPH.

Responding to concerns raised by members of the community through the cancer center’s community outreach program, cancer center resident Peter Borowsky, M.D., used a database called SCAN360 maintained by the Sylvester Cancer Center, to analyze breast cancer diagnoses and proximity to 52 Superfund sites in Florida.

The studies were published in the July 2, 2025 journal Scientific Reports, and the Aug. 11, 2025 journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

The first study looked at 21,000 cases of breast cancer in Florida diagnosed between 2015 and 2019. They found that living in the same census tract of at least one Superfund site raised the likelihood of metastasized, or breast cancer that has spread to other tissues in the body, by 30 percent.

In a separate study Borowsky’s team looked at a particular pollutant linked to Superfund sites to see if there was an association with triple-negative breast cancer. 

In particular they were looking at a category of pollutants called PM2.5 for particulate matter 2.5, which are pollutants smaller than 2.5 microns. (A micron is one-millionth of a meter.) PM2.5 has been linked to pediatric leukemia and other cancers. The findings showed that higher exposure to PM2.5 was associated with an increased the risk of triple-negative breast cancer in South Florida.

“These studies, as well as federal funding priorities, give an increasing emphasis on the role of the environment in health outcomes,” Dr. Kobetz said in a press release. “We need to better appreciate how environmental conditions may be driving variability in cancer outcomes.”

Sources: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine press release.