National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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Mbabane, Swaziland: Swazi people joined the "Brave the Breast" annual event in aid of the Swaziland Breast Cancer Network, 2016. Annual Breast Cancer Walk in Swaziland.jpg
Mbabane, Swaziland: Swazi people joined the "Brave the Breast" annual event in aid of the Swaziland Breast Cancer Network, 2016.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), also referred to in America as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. The campaign also offers information and support to those affected by breast cancer.

Breast cancer cancer that originates in the mammary gland

Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a red or scaly patch of skin. In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.

Breast cancer awareness effort to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of breast cancer

Breast cancer awareness is an effort to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of breast cancer through education on symptoms and treatment. Supporters hope that greater knowledge will lead to earlier detection of breast cancer, which is associated with higher long-term survival rates, and that money raised for breast cancer will produce a reliable, permanent cure.

Fundraising process of gathering voluntary contributions of money or other resources

Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.

Contents

Breast cancer awareness month is a yearly campaign that intend educate people about the importance of early screening, test and more. This campaign starts on October 1 and ends on October 31 every year.

History

White House illuminated pink in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 2017 P20171001MC-0035 (36802991953).jpg
White House illuminated pink in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 2017

NBCAM was founded in 1985 in October as a partnership between the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries (now part of AstraZeneca, producer of several anti-breast cancer drugs). The aim of the NBCAM from the start has been to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against breast cancer. [1]

American Cancer Society health organization seeking to cure and treat cancer

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into eleven geographical divisions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than 900 offices throughout the United States. Its home office is located in the American Cancer Society Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The ACS publishes the journals Cancer, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and Cancer Cytopathology.

Imperial Chemical Industries company

Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company and was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London, and it was a constituent of the FT 30 and later the FTSE 100 indices.

AstraZeneca plc is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company. In 2013, it moved its headquarters to Cambridge, UK, and concentrated its R&D in three sites: Cambridge; Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA for work on biopharmaceuticals; and Mölndal in Sweden, for research on traditional chemical drugs. AstraZeneca has a portfolio of products for major disease areas including cancer, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, infection, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation.

In 1993 Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies, founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and established the pink ribbon as its symbol, though this was not the first time the ribbon was used to symbolize breast cancer: [2] a 68-year-old California woman named Charlotte Haley, whose sister, daughter, and granddaughter had breast cancer, had distributed peach-color ribbons to call attention to what she perceived as inadequate funding for research. [3] In the fall of 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors. [4]

Evelyn Lauder was an Austrian American businesswoman, socialite and philanthropist who has been credited as one of the creators and popularizers of the pink ribbon as a symbol for awareness of breast cancer.

Estée Lauder Companies American-based cosmetics company

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products, based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company owns a diverse portfolio of brands, distributed internationally through both digital commerce and retail channels.

The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer. Pink ribbons are most commonly seen during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In 2010, Delta Air Lines painted N845MH, a Boeing 767-432ER in "Breast Cancer Research Foundation" special colors. In September 2015, a newer version of the livery was repainted on the same plane.

Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as simply Delta, is a major American airline, with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along with its subsidiaries and regional affiliates, operates over 5,400 flights daily and serves an extensive domestic and international network that includes 304 destinations in 52 countries on six continents, as of October 2018. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. Regional service is operated under the brand name Delta Connection. One of the five remaining legacy carriers, Delta is the sixth-oldest operating airline by foundation date, and the oldest airline still operating in the United States. Among predecessors of today's Delta Air Lines, Western Airlines and Northwest Airlines began flying passengers in 1926 and 1927, respectively.

Boeing 767 Large wide-body twin-engine jet airliner family

The Boeing 767 is a mid- to large-size, mid- to long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was Boeing's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft has two turbofan engines, a conventional tail, and, for reduced aerodynamic drag, a supercritical wing design. Designed as a smaller wide-body airliner than earlier aircraft such as the 747, the 767 has a seating capacity for 181 to 375 people, and a design range of 3,850 to 6,385 nautical miles, depending on variant. Development of the 767 occurred in tandem with a narrow-body twinjet, the 757, resulting in shared design features which allow pilots to obtain a common type rating to operate both aircraft.

Activities and events

10 Downing Street lit up in pink on October 25, 2011 for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Breast Cancer Campaign - 10 Downing Street Illuminated Pink (6278918225).jpg
10 Downing Street lit up in pink on October 25, 2011 for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Aerial view of Palacio do Planalto, the official workplace of the President of Brazil, lit up in pink on October 1, 2014 Outubro Rosa (15232835028).jpg
Aerial view of Palácio do Planalto, the official workplace of the President of Brazil, lit up in pink on October 1, 2014

A variety of events around the world are organized in October, including walks and runs, and the pink illumination of landmark buildings. In the United States, the National Football League promotes breast cancer awareness by incorporating pink on and off the field, and comic strip artists use pink on one day in October. [5]

National Football League Professional American football league

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL's 17-week regular season runs from early September to late December, with each team playing 16 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, which is usually held in the first Sunday in February, and is played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

Comic strip short serialized comics

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, these have been published in newspapers and magazines, with horizontal strips printed in black-and-white in daily newspapers, while Sunday newspapers offered longer sequences in special color comics sections. With the development of the internet, they began to appear online as webcomics. There were more than 200 different comic strips and daily cartoon panels in South Korea alone each day for most of the 20th century, for a total of at least 7,300,000 episodes.

The National Race for the Cure

In October 1983 the Race for the Cure was held for the first time in Dallas, Texas, where 800 people participated. According to the organizers, by 2002 the number of participants reached 1.3 million and the event was held in over 100 US cities. The event is also being organized in several other parts of the world. [6]

Breast Cancer Today

There are various two-day-long walks to raise money for breast cancer research institutes. Avon sponsors a 39-mile (60-km) walk. [7] A walk in Atlanta offers varying lengths of up to 30 miles. [8] Canada's large "Weekend to End Breast Cancer" features a 60-km walk. [9] St. Louis, MO offers a one-day-long breast cancer walk. This walk consists of three miles. [10]

Susan G. Komen 3 Day

This 60-mile fundraising walk, which is spread across 3 days, raises money for breast cancer research. This walk, which benefits Susan G. Komen, occurs in seven cities in the United States. [11]

Male breast cancer

Male breast cancer, which is rare, is generally overlooked. In 2009 the male breast cancer advocacy groups Out of the Shadow of Pink, A Man's Pink, and the Brandon Greening Foundation for Breast Cancer in Men joined together to globally establish the third week of October as "Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week". [12]

Criticisms

Inspiration for the foundation of NBCAM came from Zeneca Inc. in 1989 when they began a breast cancer screening program within their company. In 1996, with the screening program and study complete, Zeneca Inc. analyzed the total monetary amounts lost due to the increase in health care provided compared with the total monetary amounts lost if the company was to scrap the program were compared. The total costs to the company of running the early detection program were estimated to be $400,000. Total costs to the company if they chose not to run the program were estimated to be around $1.5 million. [13]

Pezzullo (2003) "(Astra)Zeneca’s initial justification for NBCAM was one of basic accounting, not a critique of how women’s healthcare has been assessed or implemented nor a desire to prevent women from developing breast cancer; instead, it was cost-effective for a company to detect cancer in its employees during the disease’s earlier stages."

Critics have said that "the BCAM idea 'was conceived and paid for by a British chemical company that both profits from this epidemic and may be contributing to its cause...'". [14]

Sometimes referred to as National Breast Cancer Industry Month, critics of NBCAM point to a conflict of interest between corporations sponsoring breast cancer awareness while profiting from diagnosis and treatment. The breast cancer advocacy organization, Breast Cancer Action, has said repeatedly in newsletters and other information sources that October has become a public relations campaign that avoids discussion of the causes and prevention of breast cancer and instead focuses on "awareness" as a way to encourage women to get their mammograms. The term pinkwashing has been used by Breast Cancer Action to describe the actions of companies which manufacture and use chemicals which show a link with breast cancer and at the same time publicly support charities focused on curing the disease. [15] Other criticisms center on the marketing of "pink products" and tie-ins, citing that more money is spent marketing these campaigns than is donated to the cause. [16] According to The New York Times in October 2015, fine print disclaimers on pink products sold by Dick's Sporting Goods reveal that in some instances, no money at all is donated to breast cancer research. [3] Other companies cap the amount they give to research during each October's "pink" campaign, but do not tell consumers when that cap has been reached. [3]

Observances

President Donald Trump proclaimed National Breast Cancer Awareness Month on September 30, 2017. [17] [18] [19] [20]

In 1985, "National Breast Cancer Awareness Month" (NBCAM) was created as a collaborative effort between the American Academy of Family Physicians, AstraZeneca Healthcare Foundation, CancerCare, Inc., and a variety of other sponsors to raise awareness and gain funding for research for a cure." [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

Fulvestrant, sold under the brand name Faslodex among others, is a medication used to treat hormone receptor (HR)-positive metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women with disease progression as well as HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer in combination with palbociclib in women with disease progression after endocrine therapy. It is given by injection into a muscle.

Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure

The Susan G. Komen 3-Day, frequently referred to as the 3-Day, is a 60-mile walk to raise funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and promote awareness to fight breast cancer. Individual participants must raise at least $2,300 to walk 60 miles (96 km) over a three-day weekend.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure company

Susan G. Komen, formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure and originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, often referred to as simply Komen, is the largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the United States.

Nancy Brinker Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Nancy Goodman Brinker is the founder and Chair of Global Strategy of Susan G. Komen, an organization named after her only sister, Susan, who died from breast cancer in 1980 at age 36. Brinker was also United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2001 to 2003 and Chief of Protocol of the United States from 2007 to the end of the George W. Bush administration. Brinker, a breast cancer survivor, uses her experience to heighten understanding of the disease. She speaks publicly on the importance of patient's rights and medical advancements in breast cancer research and treatment. She is currently serving as the World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control. Brinker is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Promise Me - How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer, released on September 14, 2010.

Lee National Denim Day is a fundraiser created by Lee Jeans to support the Women's cancer programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Every year, people are asked to donate the money they'd spend on a pair of jeans to support breast cancer research and wellness programs. The beneficiary of the program is the American Cancer Society. It is celebrated on the first Friday of October.

The Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of triple-negative breast cancer. The foundation supports scientists and researchers in their efforts to determine the definitive causes of triple-negative breast cancer so that effective detection, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment can be pursued and achieved.

Breast Cancer Campaign organization

Breast Cancer Campaign was a breast cancer research charity based in the United Kingdom. In 2015, Breast Cancer Campaign merged with another charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, to form the UK's largest breast cancer research charity - Breast Cancer Now.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is the leading community-funded national organisation in Australia, supporting and promoting research for the prevention and cure of breast cancer.

Baltimore Nighthawks

The Baltimore Nighthawks are a women's American football team in the Women's Football Alliance. The Nighthawks played their inaugural game in Brooklandville at Martin D. Tullai Field. The Nighthawks played the remainder of their home season at the Baltimore Lutheran School in Towson. Since the 2018 season, the team has played their home games at Woodlawn High School, located at 1801 Woodlawn Drive in Baltimore, MD.

Alexandra Penney is an American artist, journalist and author.

Global Pink Hijab Day Wikimedia list article

Global Pink Hijab Day was an initiative that began as an experiment by founder, Hend El-Buri and a group of high school students in Columbia, Missouri. It was intended to remove stereotypes of Muslim women by having Muslims engage in dialogue about breast cancer awareness, joining walks in groups while wearing pink headscarves, and holding other events promoting awareness and support for the cause. Global Pink Hijab Day was last celebrated in 2011

Team Heather

Team Heather is a fundraising group in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Global Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C., which has raised over $403,000, since June, 2001, for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment. Team Heather was formed in 2001 to support 25-year-old Heather Gardner (Starcher) (1976–2002), as she began her fight against breast cancer – a fight that ended on September 29, 2002.

Candy Coburn is an American national performing country music artist who has shared the stage with many notable artists, including Brooks and Dunn, Kellie Pickler, Montgomery Gentry, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Gary Allan, Josh Turner, Lady Antebellum and others. Scheduled to release her third album in 2010, Candy's most notable contribution to music so far has been her song, "Pink Warrior."

<i>Pink Ribbons, Inc.</i> 2011 film by Léa Pool

Pink Ribbons, Inc. is a 2011 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary about the pink ribbon campaign, directed by Léa Pool and produced by Ravida Din. The film is based on the 2006 book Pink Ribbons, Inc: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy by Samantha King, associate professor of kinesiology and health studies at Queen's University.

Pinkwashing (breast cancer)

Pinkwashing is a form of cause marketing that uses a range of pink ribbon logos, displayed on various products. The Pink ribbon logo symbolizes support for breast cancer-related charities or foundations.

Wacoal company

Wacoal is a manufacturer of women's lingerie and underwear, founded in 1949 in Japan by Koichi Tsukamoto. The company has divisions in North America and Europe, and manufactures the brands Wacoal, b.tempt'd, Elomi, Eveden, Fantasie, Freya, and Goddess.

Gordon B. Mills is the Wayne and Julie Drinkward Endowed Chair in Precision Oncology, Director of Precision Oncology, Director of SMMART Trials and Professor in Cell, Development and Cancer Biology in the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health Sciences University.

References

  1. "About Us". National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16.
  2. "Estée Lauder Official Site". Esteelauder.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  3. 1 2 3 Kolata, Gina (October 30, 2015). "A Growing Disenchantment With October 'Pinkification'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  4. "History of the Pink Ribbon". Think Before You Pink.
  5. "Comic strips go pink for breast-cancer awareness". Richmond Times-Dispatch . 2010-10-10. Archived from the original on 2010-11-08. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  6. Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Susan G. Komen for the Cure website. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  7. "Avon Walk for Breast Cancer: In It To End Breast Cancer". Walk.avonfoundation.org. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  8. "Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer - Produced by It's the Journey, Inc. - What's raised in Georgia, stays in Georgia" . Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  9. "The Weekend to End Women's Cancers: 2007 Weekend to End Breast Cancer". To07.endcancer.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  10. "2011 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" . Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  11. the3day.org
  12. "Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week" . Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  13. Pezzullo, Phaedra (November 2003). "Resisting "National Breast Cancer Awareness Month": The Rhetoric of Counterpublics and their Cultural Performances". Quarterly Journal of Speech. 89 (4): 345–365. doi:10.1080/0033563032000160981.
  14. Janette D. Sherman, M.D.(New York and London: Taylor and Francis, 2000). ISBN   1-56032-870-3. Life's Delicate Balance THE CANCER MOVEMENT: Independent, Sold-Out, or Bought Up? .
  15. Focus on Pinkwashers, Breast Cancer Action's think before you pink campaign site. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  16. Who's Really Cleaning Up Here Breast Cancer Action's think before you pink campaign site. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  17. Office of the Press Secretary (September 30, 2017). "President Donald J. Trump Proclaims October 2017 as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month". whitehouse.gov . Washington, D.C.: White House . Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  18. WTHR Staff (October 2, 2017). "White House goes pink for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month". WTHR . Indianapolis: Dispatch Broadcast Group . Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  19. "White House Turns Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month". WRC-TV . Washington, D.C.: NBCUniversal. October 1, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  20. "National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 2017" (PDF). Federal Register . Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. September 29, 2017. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  21. http://www.apa.org/pi/women/resources/newsletter/2010/10/breast-cancer.aspx