It's a federally funded, $35 million dollar study to be completed over 7 years. Today, it is 3 years underway.

Researchers in four states and three fields are attempted to find out what about our lives increases our chances of getting sick, and asking how to communicate that to young girls who aren't exactly thinking about mortality.

"Certainly when they are diagnosed they get a huge amount of info, but it's very important to get it early on," explains Dr. Charles Atkin, a principal investigator on the Breast Cancer and Environment Research Centers project, financed by the National Cancer Institute.

For now, their research only conclusively says childhood obesity is a stressor for breast cancer. "There are dozens of chemicals that are suspected," says Atkin.

They hope, at the end of 7 years, to have a list of the high priority risks and to have a federally funded plan to educate females of all ages to detect, to treat, and mostly, to prevent a cancer that affects 1 in 8 women.