[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 15 (Monday, April 13, 1998)]
[Page 585]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial

April 6, 1998

    Today's new research findings about the potential use of the drug 
tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer are an historic step in the ongoing 
fight against this deadly disease. Breast cancer strikes one in eight 
American women, and about 180,000 women in the United States will be 
diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. Each of us has a sister, a 
daughter, a friend, or in my case, a mother, who has fought against it.
    The landmark Breast Cancer Prevention Trial gives us new hope that 
some women at high risk for breast cancer may actually be able to reduce 
their risk of getting this life threatening disease. It is an important 
contribution to our national battle to detect, prevent, treat, and 
finally cure breast cancer for generations of women to come.