CALL FOR PAPERS FOR SPECIAL THEMED EDITION

THEME: ENVIRONMENTAL AND CHEMICAL RISK FACTORS FOR BREAST CANCER

Theme Coordinator/Editor: Prof Emerita Yetunde M Olumide, MB,BS;  Dip Derm; FMCP; FWACP; MD; FAS; FAAD. MBAD; FNAMed; FAMedS

Theme Assistant Coordinator/Editor: Assoc Prof Olusola Ayanlowo, MBBS; MSc(Clin Dermatology); FWACP

Introduction

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among females worldwide and in Nigeria with its attendant burden of emotional, social and economic consequences. Known contributors to breast cancer (BC) risk, include: (1) increased age, (2) family history of BC, (3) certain rare genetic variants including BRCA1 and 2, (4) alcohol consumption, (5) a sedentary lifestyle, (6) benign breast disease, (7) high breast density, (8) radiation exposure, (9) a number of reproductive characteristics, including early age at menarche, (10) hormonal influences, (11) high body mass index for risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, and (12) Xenoestrogens as Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs).

Both laboratory and human evidence support the role of chemicals in the etiology of breast cancer. Chemicals act by (1) genotoxic action, (2) alteration of mammary gland development or hormone responsiveness, and (3) hormonal tumor promotion. As a hormone dependent tumor, the cyclical secretion of estrogens during a woman’s life is a key risk factor for breast cancer, the more estrogen one receives during life, the higher the overall risk. The breast can be extremely vulnerable at times of growth and change such as puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. Increased lifetime exposure to estrogen, other hormones, and higher exposures in early life link many of the established risk factors for breast cancer and are a key factor in the disease development. Timing of exposure can be more important than dose. Furthermore, the unborn baby (the fetus) can be extremely vulnerable to the development of various diseases including breast cancer later in life which may not be manifest at birth.

Laboratory research has shown that numerous environmental pollutants cause mammary gland tumors in animals; are hormonally active, specifically mimicking estrogen which is a breast cancer risk factor; or affect susceptibility of the mammary gland to carcinogenesis. Xenoestrogens are environmental hormones which may be synthetic or naturally derived from plants and are ubiquitous, persistent and bioaccumulate causing hormone disruptive effect to animal and human health. An assessment of epidemiologic research on these environmental pollutants identified in toxicologic studies can guide future research and exposure reduction aimed at prevention. Substantial research progress in the last two decades suggests that the investigation of environmental pollutants will lead to strategies to reduce breast cancer.

Intervention strategies as regards breast cancer have been largely on early detection and management of the disease. Early detection of breast cancer is not prevention and whilst this may help treat it before it has a chance to spread, it does not prevent BC. Real primary prevention means eliminating causes, so that the disease does not have a chance to start. We cannot change genetics, but we can change personal, environmental, and work factors. There are inherent advantages and benefits in identifying environmental chemical mammary toxicants. These adverse effects can be mitigated or eliminated through a hierarchy of controls which include elimination, substitution, engineering control, administrative controls, personal protective equipment, and behavioral changes. Hence environmental chemical risk factors are eminently modifiable factors. Awareness of this reality will help to dispel existing myths and misconceptions about the etiology of breast cancer disease.

We can realistically use knowledge-based approaches and strategies to reduce/eliminate breast cancer environmental chemical risk factors.

The specific objectives of the themed issue:

To publish original research articles, systematic or scoping reviews focusing on environmentally relevant chemical risk factors to female BC and describe local exposure scenarios (for example, Nigeria), in such a manner that will ensure that science is communicated accurately to stakeholders for appropriate breast cancer prevention interventions and policy. These will include:

• Innovative multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary research on environmental and chemical risk factors of breast cancer, for instance, scientifically evidenced facts to help to debunk myths, misinformation and disinformation about the disease.
• Scoping/Systematic review articles which will lay groundwork for new epidemiologic studies of breast cancer in Nigeria and elsewhere by
  • Providing new tool to stimulate initiating and prioritizing further research in support of BC
  • Translating basic scientific research into clinical relevance for breast cancer
  • Identifying highly exposed populations for further study and policy interventions
• Meta-analysis of toxicologic data that are relevant to environmental and chemical risk factors of BC etiology, systematically assessing the results of previous research, derive conclusions to enable integration of disciplinary fields and hence stronger BC study designs for public health, toxicology, gynecology, pediatrics, dermatology, endocrinology, environmental health, epidemiology, etc.
• Prescribing science-backed practical ways to mitigate exposures to environmental mammary toxicants.

TOPICS AND SCOPE OF COVERAGE

We invite high quality multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary original research articles, systematic/scoping reviews, meta-analysis on Environmental Chemical Risk Factors of breast cancer in Nigeria.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

Submit full Length Article to the following email addresses: mercyolumide2004@yahoo.co.uk, solayan05@yahoo.com, oayanlowo@unilag.edu.ng,  sbalogun@nas.org.ng, adeyemoolanike@gmail.com

 TIMELINE

• Manuscripts Submission: June 1, 2022 – Aug 31, 2022. Manuscripts will be reviewed on a rolling basis and acceptance communicated
• Publication Date: October 2022

INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS

Proceedings of the Nigerian Academy of Science

(PNgAS)

The official journal of the Nigerian Academy of Science, the apex Science Society of Nigeria

1. The journal publishes articles emanating from outstanding original research.
2. From time to time, the Editorial board may request individuals to write commentaries on burning scientific issues. 
3. Articles should be written in a language that is intelligible to most scientists.
4. Manuscripts for publication in the Proc. Nigerian Acad. Sci. should be written or sponsored by a Fellow of the Academy. Where an author is not able to get a Fellow to sponsor his article, he may submit to the Editor-in-Chief who will seek a Fellow to sponsor such. Authors may wish to suggest names of possible reviewers of the articles not from the same institution as the authors. The Editorial board makes final decisions on who may review an article.
5. Articles are usually arranged in the following order: Authors and Affiliations, Abstract or Summary. Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References and Acknowledgements. In areas such as pure Mathematics, or Physics this format may be modified in accordance with practice in the particular scientific discipline.  Proc. Nigerian Acad. Sci. will not publish any plagiarized article. The Editorial board will send all suspicious articles to websites that will even show where the pirated data were lifted from.
6. All manuscripts should be composed in a LATEX or Word document with at least 12 font size.
7. Title: should be concise, and quotable.

The title page also should contain the authors and their affiliation. Authors’ names should include first names, initials, surnames, and addresses. Asterisks should be used to indicate the corresponding author and if authors come from different institutions, these should be identified by superscripts. The website or e-mail, telephone numbers and postal address of the corresponding author must be included.

8. Summary or Abstract page: This should not exceed 250 words in length.  Three key words are required. Authors may therefore indicate under what section they want their papers to be reviewed and should insert such before the key words. E.g. Biological: Agriculture. Key words: plant breeding, hybridization, Manihot species.

9. Text: Authors are advised to avoid scientific jargon as far as possible. All acronyms are to be explained before being subsequently used in the text. All experimentation reported with living humans or animals must have obtained permission from the requisite Institutional Ethical Clearance Board. The statistical package used in the analysis of data must be stated.

It should be clear whether error bars indicate standard error of the mean or standard deviation. All references must be numbered consecutively and listed similarly in the Reference section. Figures and tables should be inserted in appropriate places in the text where possible. Figures are numbered in Arabic numbers and Tables in Roman numerals.

10. Acknowledgements:  Funding sources and technical assistance are permitted but not dedications.

11. References: All authors are to be listed. This recommendation is to reflect the fact that the key author may be the last author Web-pages are not references and may be quoted in the text or as footnotes.

12. A journal article may be referenced thus:

Chukwuani C M, Onyemelukwe G C, Okonkwo P O. Coker H A, &Ifudu N D (1998). The quinolones in management of typhoid fever: comparison of fleroxacin and ciprofloxacin in Nigerian patients. Clinical Drug Investigation. 16: 280-288.

Chapters in books can be cited as in this guide in the Proceedings of the Nigerian Academy of Science:

Hill AV(1991) in Molecular Evolution of the Major Histocompatibility Complex,eds Klein J Klein D (Springer, Heidelberg), pp 403- 420

1. Submission of articles: For the special themed edition, manuscripts should be submitted as downloadable read and write attachments to: mercyolumide2004@yahoo.co.uk; solayan05@yahoo.com; copying the Editor-In-Chief, Professor Olanike Adeyemo FAS, E-mail: olanikeadeyemo@hotmail.com; the Executive Secretary/Managing Editor, Dr. Oladoyin Odubanjo.
   Email dodubanjo@nas.org.ng,        Editorial Assistant: Mr Seun Balogun. Email: sbalogun@nas.org.ng