BIG facilitates breast cancer research at an international level by stimulating cooperation between its members and other academic networks, and collaborating with, but working independently of, the pharmaceutical industry.
Such large-scale cooperation is crucial to make significant advances in breast cancer research, reduce the wasteful duplication of effort and resources, enrol numerous patients more quickly, share data and knowledge, and efficiently answer important scientific questions.
In the early 1990s, breast cancer research in Europe was highly fragmented, with academic groups running many similar trials, but not yet interacting in a way to facilitate collaboration.
Over the years, BIG has developed and successfully run numerous large, phase 3 clinical trials involving thousands of international investigators and institutions.
This is the case for POSITIVE (public name "BIG Time for Baby"), a study that aims to evaluate the safety of interrupting endocrine therapy for young women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer who wish to become pregnant, as well as the pregnancy outcomes.
It meets frequently throughout the year to create BIG's scientific strategy, implement general assembly resolutions, and supervise the association.
It is the BIG organization's final decision-making body and also decides on proposals made by the Executive Board on subjects of crucial strategic and scientific relevance.