The following is a digest of significant statutes affecting breast cancer from the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These statutes reflect the past and present concerns of legislatures regarding breast cancer. Most statutes addressing breast cancer are of recent (post-1980) origin, but research has identified relevant laws as far back as 1949. For example, a 1949 Alabama law required that the state Board of Health's program for indigent cancer sufferers include exami- nations for breast cancer (see p.17).