Photo by D.J. Peters / AP
It’s October and the traditional fall colors are everywhere. We’re not talking about red and orange, though, but various shades of pink, the color of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Founded in 1985 by the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical company now known as AstraZeneca (maker of several anti-breast cancer drugs), Breast Cancer Awareness Month and its accompanying pink ribbon are now synonymous with the month of October. In fact, many people (including breast cancer survivors) refer to the month as “Pinktober,” some with affection, others with a dash (or more) of disdain.
The long-standing awareness campaign definitely means different things to different people. For some, it’s about celebrating strength and survival. For others, advocacy and a push to educate people about the realities of breast cancer, particularly metastatic disease. Researchers may think of the many donations that help to fund their invaluable work. Others are concerned about “pink profiteering.”
Curious what Breast Cancer Awareness Month means to those in the trenches with the disease, either fighting it, living with it, helping patients navigate it or tirelessly working towards its eradication? Read on:
As someone who works with cancer patients and survivors every day, I look at Breast Cancer Awareness Month as a time to raise the profile of all cancers in the community. Cancer is something that most people prefer not to think about if they don’t have to. The flood of pink this month, I hope, serves to remind people of cancer’s real impact on so many lives, and of the importance of continued support. This includes support for patients who are currently in treatment, for survivors of all stripes, for remembrance of those who have been lost to cancer, and for the truly vital research that is ongoing to fight all types of cancers into the future.
--Dr. Samantha Burns Artherholt, clinical assistant professor, department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, UW School of Medicine, and attending psychologist, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Outpatient Clinic
While I truly believe that it's very personal how we survivors and warriors feel about the pink overload, this much is true: with every ribbon, every balloon, every slogan, I remind myself how lucky I am to be here still fighting, mouthing off and kicking ass. I will wear the “pink badge of honor” every day this month as I have for the past seven years.
--Jennifer Pellechio-Lukowiak, two-time breast cancer survivor and author of “Does This Outfit Make Me Look Bald”
I’m a male breast cancer survivor and would love to see a man in blue in the sea of pink on national TV. It hurts me to see just pink this month. It isn’t just pink anymore. It is about finding a cure for all, whether it is pink or blue.
--Steve Del Gardo, male breast cancer survivor and blogger
There's no question that awareness of breast cancer survivors' concerns has grown exponentially in the past decade. Not only are survivors speaking out and using the power of their shared voices, but oncologists and other health care providers are listening and wanting to learn how to meet these needs. For myself there is nothing more rewarding than to see women who have gone through treatment sharing their stories and the paths that have worked for them, and hearing other women inspired with a new-found momentum and sense of community when they realize that other people really know what they're experiencing. I'm inspired by the breakthroughs we are making almost daily as we research the complications, causes and solutions to long-term problems after breast cancer treatment and see these translated into the lives of women we see – solutions to pain, fatigue, fear, sexual difficulties, cognitive problems, reclaiming the strength and health of their bodies. But frankly, we still have more work to do, and we need to be able to prevent these problems and treat those we can't prevent yet.
-- Dr. Karen Syrjala, professor and director, biobehavioral sciences and co-director of Fred Hutch’s Survivorship Program
Photo courtesy of AnneMarie Ciccarella
It means that breast cancer is getting a lot of attention, which is a lot better than the days when people on the breast cancer walk couldn't use the words "breast" or "cancer" on their banners! But, frankly, as a breast cancer patient myself, it can also feel a bit patronizing and gimmicky.
-- Dr. Mindy Greenstein, clinical psychologist, breast cancer survivor and author of The House on Crash Corner
We don't need awareness, we need education. We don't need pink parades, we need progress. Breast cancer is not the great success story it’s hyped to be. It’s just the one that’s been the best marketed.
--AnneMarie Ciccarella, breast cancer survivor, blogger and advocate
I think that one of the key things for people to understand is that we’ve made a lot of progress but there’s a lot more work that still needs to be done. I work in the area of chemo resistance and work with the bad types of cancer, the stuff that won’t go away, the drug-resistant cancers. We need the support from the community to be able to do that work. When we see people come out for marches or walks and we see all those survivors, we know that they are huge advocates and research has made such leaps and bounds because of support of these patient advocates. Also, I probably throw around the words breast cancer or cancer a hundred times a day in the lab. But you don’t see the people on the other side. We don’t see patients the way clinicians do. Seeing those patients, hearing their stories, really helps keep us on target. It helps us know what it is and why it is we’re doing what we’re doing. Everyone has someone in their family who’s been affected by this. Even me.
--Dr. Kiranjit Dhillon, post-doctoral fellow in Fred Hutch’s Taniguchi Lab
October is here. Stand tall, educate about breast cancer anywhere you can. Tell your story. And remember this: the important thing is not to let ridiculous awareness campaigns distract from the conversation we need to have. Pink is only a color and cure is an illusion. We desperately need more research to turn breast cancer into a manageable disease for all women, not just some. To this day some 30 percent of ALL breast cancer patients will go on to develop metastatic, or incurable disease. That’s what’s important.
--Jody Schoger, co-founder of #BCSM, breast cancer social media, advocate and writer living with metastatic breast cancer
Photo by Bo Jungmayer / Fred Hutch News Service
Breast Cancer Awareness Month has done an enormous job of kickstarting fundraising for breast cancer, which has in turn fueled research and awareness for breast cancer. As a colon cancer survivor, I’d love to know how to harness similar energy for colorectal cancers, which may not be as sexy, but kill more people than breast cancer. I’m sure patients and survivors of other cancers feel similarly. As a fundraiser, I think BCAM is a great opportunity to let donors know that they can have the biggest impact by giving locally. More of their contribution will be used for research when given directly to research centers like Fred Hutch, instead of through granting agencies. I also think that while the history of BCAM may be controversial, it’s opened a dialogue about how best to “do” philanthropy. If the public becomes educated on where their dollars go, they make investments that more closely align with their passions, and that’s always a good thing.
-- Dr. Elizabeth Prescott, colon cancer survivor and director, corporate and foundation relations at Fred Hutch
As we transition into Pinktober, I would like to urge people to please use discretion with regard to pink ribbon marketing campaigns touting breast cancer support (verify where proceeds go) and to scrutinize products, as many are actually harmful contributors to breast cancer, such as hormone interrupters. And as a reminder, there is NO cure for Stage 4 breast cancer (the type that kills) and less than 2 percent raised by all breast cancer organizations in North America go towards this cause.
--Summar Breeze Ruelle, stage 4 metastatic breast cancer METavivor
When I worked as a primary care provider, Breast Cancer Awareness Month meant a flurry of appointments for breast lumps found on first breast self-exams. I also had many phone requests for mammogram prescriptions from women who had been putting that mammogram off but now had a media reminder to schedule. Both types of request provided an opportunity for dialogue and education: What are “normal” breast nodules? How often should a woman get a mammogram? Has anyone in the family been diagnosed with a cancer in the recent past? When is your well physical due? Now that I work in Cancer Survivorship, I see the gratitude women have for detecting their breast cancers early with those self-exams and mammograms. I hear them encourage other women to get their breast screening done in a timely manner. Increased awareness and being proactive for wellness is a good thing, even if your favorite color may not be pink.
--Leslie Vietmeier, nurse practitioner with Fred Hutch’s Survivorship Program
What Breast Cancer Awareness month means to me is a heightened thought process of “Cancer is real.” And that we need to continue advocating for ourselves as community members, we need to continue to work with research centers like Fred Hutch, we need to continue to empower organizations like Cierra Sisters and we need to make sure that we know our bodies in a way that when we feel a difference, we make the doctors take notice and take action. If it happens to be breast cancer, we’re able to find it at an earlier stage and that gives us a greater opportunity to continue to live and take care of our families and take care of ourselves.
--Bridgette Hempstead, two-time breast cancer survivor and founder of the survivor support group Cierra Sisters
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Diane Mapes is a staff writer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She has written extensively about health issues for nbcnews.com, TODAY.com, CNN.com, MSN.com, Columns and several other publications. A breast cancer survivor, she also writes the breast cancer blog, doublewhammied.com. Reach her at firstname.lastname@example.org.