Breast cancer continues to rob women of their health, their productivity, and their very lives. It robs families of mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, wives, and partners. In 2001 alone, an estimated 192,200 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and more than 40,200 women will be lost to this disease. Breast cancer strikes women of all ages, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic strata, and geographic locales; however, older women, African Americans, the poor, and others with limited health care access are disproportionately affected. Male breast cancer, because of its rarity, is most often treated according to the lessons learned from studying the disease in women....

The report of the Breast Cancer Progress Review Group presents in detail the recommendations both for overarching areas of research emphasis and for achieving progress in each of the major disciplines engaged in breast cancer research. In addition, key breast cancer statistics and a listing of on- line resources for breast cancer information are included as appendices to the report.

(From Charting the Course: Priorities for Breast Cancer Research -- The Report of the Breast Cancer Progress Review Group)