Summary
The California Breast Cancer Research Program is in a unique position to better understand and ultimately address the excess burden of breast cancer incidence and mortality among those at highest risk. The data show that important research priorities to address are: funding research that identifies real and perceived barriers to early and regular screening and diagnosis for those at highest risk; monitoring whether high risk populations are receiving standard of care treatment; and identifying more accurate measures of socioeconomic status and race.
These issues are of course equally important for the nation as a whole. So important, that given California's unique population and commitment to funding breast cancer research, that it would be valuable for the CBCRP to ask the NCI and/or the DOD breast cancer research programs for additional resources to supplement and extend the CBCRP's efforts to better understand and reduce the disparity of disease and death due to breast cancer.
