ABSTRACT
Activism from many quarters forced some promising changes. Congress dramatically increased funding for breast cancer research, both lab experimentation and clinical trials, and new grant categories were created to promote innovative, high-risk research. For the first time in history, breast cancer survivors who were not scientists were allowed to participate in some of the groups that decide which research proposals would be funded. Several reasons have been highlighted by activists. Because in the United States breast cancer is the number one killer of women aged thirty-five to forty-four—relatively young women in their prime. Because the United States has a relatively high incidence of breast cancer, and that incidence has been increasing by about 1 percent per year since 1940. Hundreds of local grassroots groups offer support, education, and advocacy about breast cancer and make a difference in women’s lives.
