Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium: An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Structure of the BCSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Collecting Data Within the Context of Routine Clinical Practice . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Opening the Doors to New Understanding: Progress on
a Research Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
What Characteristics of Women Affect the Performance of Screening
Mammography? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Do Biological Characteristics of Breast Tumors Determine
Whether They Can Be Detected by Screening Mammography? . . . . . . . . . . . 23
What Characteristics of the Radiology Facility, Radiologist,
or Mammographic Technologist Affect the Performance of Screening
Mammography? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
What Characteristics of Mammography Equipment Affect
the Performance of Screening Mammography? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Developing Innovative Statistical Approaches to Analyzing Data . . . . . . . . . . 31
Beyond Research: Other BCSC Accomplishments to Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Extending Research Use of BCSC Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Collaborating With the American College of Radiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Disseminating Information and Collaborating With Other Groups . . . . . . . . . 36
Enhancing the Career Development of Junior Investigators and Students . . . 43
Meeting the Challenges That Lie Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .