Message from the Director
It is my pleasure to present the 1999 Advances in Breast Cancer Research from the California Breast Cancer Research Program. The report summarizes key accomplishments and discoveries from the wide range of research supported by the Program. Throughout this report, you will see evidence of our continued efforts to identify, solicit and support high quality, innovative research that will have a significant impact on breast cancer in California, as well as our commitment to ensure that this research is disseminated and translated in the health care and public health arenas.
It is with mixed emotions that I acknowledge the fifth anniversary of the Program. How can one celebrate when the people of California continue to be faced with alarming numbers of breast cancer diagnoses and with the devastation of nearly 5,000 deaths per year? If only we could see our efforts result in reduced incidence and lives saved overnight or even within weeks or months. But we are confronted with the reality that research rarely leads to overnight solutions, and that we can rarely predict which path will lead us to the most immediate breakthroughs. In our continuing battle against breast cancer, it is likely that our advances will come in fits and starts and incremental progress, and that reductions in incidence and deaths will require years, if not decades, to achieve and measure. But our commitment remains unwavering and our hopes high. And while we cannot celebrate the ongoing need for the Breast Cancer Research Program, we do have reasons to celebrate. We can celebrate the ongoing commitment that California has made to eradicate breast cancer by supporting the largest state research program in the nation. We can celebrate the research discoveries described here and in prior Annual Reports. And we can celebrate and harness the maturity that the Program is now achieving. This maturity gives us the opportunity to carefully evaluate the Program's achievements and to use this information to strategize for the future, ensuring that we accelerate our progress in eradicating breast cancer.
The people of California can be proud of how much the Program accomplished in 1999. Meeting our mission "to reduce the impact of breast cancer in California" is challenging, and requires us to be proactive in identifying and addressing emerging gaps and opportunities in the multitude of research areas that touch on breast cancer. It makes it essential for us to partner with others in the medical, scientific, and lay communities. Our goal is to develop a multidisciplinary research agenda that brings together the expertise and knowledge from different areas of basic biological sciences, translational and clinical research health care delivery, behavioral science, and epidemiology that will stimulate a changing landscape of breast cancer research as an increasing collaboration among scientists, advocacy groups and policy-makers.
In 1999, as in previous years, we set new priorities for research funding, adding new award types to stimulate and support creative new ideas by bringing in people and research areas that have not before been used in breast cancer research. We continued our support of key areas (such as studying the normal breast and pursuing new ideas on what causes breast cancer) that we believe are underemphasized by other research funding agencies. And our second biannual symposium brought together more than 500 scientists, health care providers, survivors, and interested lay people to discuss the latest research findings and develop future directions.
While developing crucial new initiatives, however, the Program must also confront declining revenues. The Program is funded by a portion of the revenue from a two cent per pack tax on cigarettes. Several factors are playing a part in decreasing the consumption of cigarettes in California, a trend that we hope will continue. Eliminating tobacco use is a critical public health objective that we wholeheartedly support, and that will greatly reduce funding for many important public health programs. Declining funds from tobacco taxes are being faced by numerous health care, health education and research agencies. At CBCRP, we are undertaking a number of efforts to sustain funding for breast cancer research, such as increasing awareness of the voluntary state income tax check-off and soliciting private donations. We encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to support breast cancer research when submitting your California state income tax return.
I invite you to critically examine this Report - to learn from the research described, to question, to follow up areas that interest you on our website, where all of this research is presented in more detail. The work presented here reflects the efforts of hundreds of people - dedicated scientists, concerned advocates, and partner organizations. My continued thanks to the Breast Cancer Research Council for their hard work, commitment, leadership, and vision. Working together, we will continue to move towards a future in which breast cancer deaths are a rare occurrence.
