Op-ed warns against research cuts amid rise in early-onset cancers

In a recent Boston Globe op-ed, Silent Spring Executive Director Dr. Mary Beth Terry urges renewed investment in women’s health research as early-onset cancers—particularly breast cancer—are on the rise in young adults.

Reflecting on the grassroots activism in Massachusetts 30 years ago that spurred major federal investments in breast cancer research, Dr. Terry writes that we are once again at a pivotal moment.

“We’re on the cusp of being able to connect the dots between the environment and early-onset cancers in ways that could help prevent disease from developing as early and as often as it does today,” she writes.

Dr. Terry points to growing evidence linking environmental exposures—such as PFAS, parabens, and phthalates found in everyday products—to hormone-related cancers like breast and thyroid cancer.

Currently, only 8.8 percent of NIH’s research budget supports women’s health. Terry emphasizes that without adequate support, critical research—and the careers of scientists leading it—is at risk.

Read the full op-ed