In breast cancer as in other cancers on the front line of modern interdisciplinary research we have crossed the threshhold of new understanding. Fueled by an awareness that breast cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women and honed by rapid technological advances in molecular mechanisms, major inroads into the darkness of this scourge have been accomplished during the past several years. Basic laboratory and clinical research findings must influence and in turn be influenced by efforts to detect, to diagnose and to cure the human disease. It is indeed gratifying to note that the efforts of scientists and clinicians from throughout the world reported in this volume are achieving this objective. The first section of the book focuses on the molecular and genetic basis of breast cancer. The role of specific oncogenes in mammary tumorigenesis using transgenic mice and mammary glands correlating molecular events with specific stages in neoplastic development are described and discussed. Such topics as the nature of specific oncogenes, levels of oncogene expression, the alteration of expression of other growth regulatory genes and the state of the cell in which the oncogene is expressed are specifically addressed. This section of the book is rounded out with discussions on the potential of genetic alterations as indicators of prognosis, the characterization of full-length cDNA codes for breast cancer markers and the function of antigens in tuomorigenesis.

I Breast Cancer at the Molecular Level.- 1. Transgenic Mice and Transgenic Mammary Glands.- 2. The Regulation of Tissue-Specific Casein Gene Expression in Transgenic Animals.- 3. The Current Status of int Genes, Proto-Oncogenes, and Recessive Mutations in Primary Human Breast Tumors: Their Potential Usefulness in Prognosis.- 4. Isolation and Characterization of Full Length cDNA Coding for the H23 Breast Tumor Associated Antigen.- 5. Epithelial Mucins: Expression and Applications in Breast Cancer.- II Breast Cancer Detection and Therapy.- 6. Breast Cancer Detection, Diagnosis, and Radiation Therapy.- 7. Surgical Strategies in Curable Breast Cancer.- 8. Chemotherapy of Breast Cancer.- 9. Mechanisms of AntiCancer Drug Resistance.- 10. MultiDrug-Resistance in Human Cancer.- 11. High Dose Chemotherapy Intensification with Bone Marrow Support for Hormone Receptor Negative or Hormonal Refractory Relapsing Breast Cancer.- III Laboratory and Clinical Research: At the Interface.- 12. Mammary Carcinogenesis.- 13. Steroid Receptors and Breast Cancer: Current Status and New Applications for Receptor-Directed Diagnosis and Therapy.- 14. Estrogen Induced Cathepsin D in Breast Cancer: From Biology to Clinical Applications.- 15. Correlation between the Presence of Breast Tumor Cells in Bone Marrow at the Time of Surgery and Disease Progression.- 16. The Growing Importance of Pre-Invasive Carcinoma of the Breast.- 17. Role of Diet in Breast Cancer Etiology.- 18. Towards a Breast Cancer Vaccine?.- 19. Breast Tumor Cell Heterogeneity and Evolution in Response to Monoclonal Antibody Therapy.