Washington, DC - T he Breast Cancer Research Stamp is now the best-selling commemorative stamp in history, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced today, urging people to continue buying the stamp.

As of April 2004, 532.7 million Breast Cancer Research Stamps have been sold, topping the previous record of 517 million set by the Elvis Presley stamp. Sales of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, which now add up to $221.1 million, first surpassed sales of the Elvis Presley stamp in February 2004.

"I want to commend every American who has bought the Breast Cancer Research Stamp," Senator Feinstein said. "This stamp has raised $38.2 million in vitally important research funds. I want to encourage people to continue to buy more of these extraordinary stamps."

Approximately 3 million women in the United States are living with breast cancer, one million of whom have yet to be diagnosed. One out of every 8 women will get breast cancer, just as one out of every 6 men will have prostate cancer. The disease claims another woman's life every 13 minutes in the United States . Though much less common, about 1,300 men in America are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

"Breast cancer affects millions of people in this country, both patients and their families," Senator Feinstein said. "This is the first stamp of its kind to raise funds for a specific cause. Its success has also inspired other fundraising stamps."

The Breast Cancer Research Stamp costs 45 cents and is deemed valid as a 37-cent stamp. The additional 8 cents charged for each stamp is directed to research programs at the National Institutes of Health, which receives 70 percent of the proceeds, and the Department of Defense breast cancer research programs, which receives the remaining 30 percent of the proceeds. The stamp is currently authorized to run through the end of 2005.

The legislation to create the stamp was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 13, 1997 . The original cosponsors for the bill were Senators Feinstein, Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY), and Lauch Faircloth (R-NC) in the Senate, and Representatives Vic Fazio (D-CA) and Susan Molinari (R-NY) in the House. Most recently, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) joined with Senator Feinstein to cosponsor the measure to reauthorize the stamp in the 108 th Congress.

The Breast Cancer Research Stamp has been reauthorized by Congress three times, most recently in the FY2004 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which President Bush signed into law on January 23, 2004.