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Dominican University of California associate professor Dr. Maggie Louie.

There will be no summer vacation for Dr. Maggie Louie, an associate professor of biochemistry at Dominican University in San Rafael.

Louie and her two student assistants are working through the summer, continuing their research into the role that the heavy metal cadmium plays in the incidence of breast cancer. She and her team have received more than $450,000 in grants from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health to fund their work.

In April, Louie released research results that show cancer cells become increasingly aggressive the longer they are exposed to small concentrations of cadmium, commonly found in cosmetics, food, water and air particles. While other studies had previously shown links between acute cadmium exposure and breast cancer, Louie's study is one of only a few to link chronic cadmium exposure to the disease.

Now, Louie says she is investigating further to understand the biochemical process involved, and she believes she has found a protein that plays a key role.

"We've identified a potential player, which is stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1)," Louie said, "and we're trying to figure out how this small protein is being regulated by cadmium and what its role is in terms of increasing the cancer's ability to metastasize."

Louie said, "Unfortunately, cadmium is all around us. Cadmium is in our food, our water, our makeup, and our air."

Cadmium is produced mainly as a byproduct

Louie said many people believe there is nothing to worry about because the levels of exposure are so low. She, however, has her doubts.

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Dominican University professor explores links to breast cancer