Every year in North Carolina approximately 5,500 women
are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Although the
number of new cases remains high, advances in research are leading to improvements in both incidence rates and long-term survival, with nearly 90% of women living 5 or more years after diagnosis, and 80% living 10 or more. The Carolina Breast Cancer Study (CBCS) examines the causes of breast cancer in black and white women.

Begun in 1993, the study is run through the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and is also affiliated with the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. University Cancer Research
Fund and the National Cancer Institute's Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in breast cancer.

We are currently enrolling participants in Phase III of the study, named in honor of State Senator Jeanne Hopkins Lucas (pictured on right). She was the first African-American female to serve in the North Carolina state senate, where she was a strong advocate for higher education. Senator Lucas died of breast cancer in March of 2007 at the age of 71.