50 Fun Facts About Breast Cancer Awareness

In which month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month observed?

Walks, runs and pink-lit landmarks mark it around the world.

Which company's pharmaceutical arm co-founded National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1985?

ICI's drug business became part of AstraZeneca, maker of the breast-cancer drug tamoxifen.

Before the pink ribbon became standard, Charlotte Haley handed out ribbons of which colour in 1991?

The 68-year-old Californian, whose sister, daughter and granddaughter had all had breast cancer, wanted more research funding.

The pink ribbon was formalised in the 1992 Breast Cancer Awareness issue of which magazine?

Evelyn Lauder of Estée Lauder and editor Alexandra Penney drove it, and Estée Lauder counters have since handed out over 70 million ribbons.

Which charity handed a pink ribbon to every runner in its 1991 New York City race?

Nancy Brinker had founded it in 1982 in memory of her sister, who died at 36.

Nancy Brinker founded her breast cancer foundation in 1982 in memory of whom?

Susan Goodman Komen died of breast cancer in 1980 at the age of 36.

Susan Goodman Komen, for whom the foundation is named, died of breast cancer in 1980 at what age?

The organisation named for her is based in Dallas, Texas.

Which cosmetics executive founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in 1993, with the pink ribbon as symbol?

The company has since donated more than $25 million to research.

Which US sports league is known for putting pink on and off the field every autumn?

Critics of such marketing coined the term 'pinkwashing'.

The term 'pinkwashing' was coined by the group Breast Cancer Action to describe companies that do what?

The group argues awareness marketing avoids discussing causes and prevention.

Which First Lady's openness about her 1974 breast surgery boosted breast cancer awareness?

Her frankness sent thousands of American women for check-ups.

Worldwide, breast cancer accounts for roughly what share of all cancers in women?

It is the leading type of cancer in women.

Roughly how many deaths did breast cancer cause globally in 2020?

There were about two million new cases in 2018.

How does the incidence of breast cancer in women compare with that in men?

Men account for under one percent of cases, roughly 20,000 a year worldwide.

Roughly what share of new breast cancers are diagnosed in men?

Men are diagnosed later on average, at 67 rather than 63.

What is the most common screening test for breast cancer?

It uses low-dose X-rays; 3D tomosynthesis entered clinical trials in 2008.

Under the USPSTF guidance issued in 2024, biennial mammograms should start at what age?

The April 2024 recommendation lowered the starting age from 50 to 40 and runs to age 74.

Which German surgeon carried out an early X-ray study of 3,000 removed breasts in 1913?

Uruguayan radiologist Raul Leborgne added breast compression in the 1950s.

What is the five-year survival rate for breast cancer in the United States and UK?

Rates are far lower in countries without screening and modern treatment.

Roughly what proportion of breast cancers are ductal carcinomas, arising in the lining of the milk ducts?

Most of the rest are lobular carcinomas.

About what percentage of breast cancers are 'triple-negative'?

They are harder to treat because hormone therapy and targeted antibody drugs do not work on them.

Inherited mutations in which two genes greatly raise the risk of breast and ovarian cancer?

Carriers have roughly five times the normal breast-cancer risk and ten to thirty times the ovarian risk.

BRCA1 sits on chromosome 17; on which chromosome is BRCA2?

Both are tumour-suppressor genes involved in repairing DNA.

Tamoxifen works by blocking the action of which hormone in breast tissue?

Taken for five years, it cuts the risk of breast-cancer death by around 40 percent over the following decade.

Which chemist first synthesised tamoxifen in 1962, while working on a contraceptive pill project?

The compound failed as a contraceptive and became one of the most important cancer drugs in history.

Trastuzumab, sold as Herceptin, targets breast cancers that over-express which protein?

HER2 is amplified in 20 to 30 percent of early-stage breast cancers; the drug was approved in the US in September 1998.

In what year was trastuzumab (Herceptin) approved for use in the United States?

Genentech developed it with UCLA, starting the first trial with 15 women in 1992.

What is the surgical name for removal of one or both breasts?

A lumpectomy, or wide local excision, removes only the tumour and a margin of tissue.

In which year was the radical operation removing breast, underarm nodes and chest muscles first performed?

It was the standard operation for most of a century before breast-conserving surgery took over.

Breast-conserving surgery that removes just the tumour and a margin of healthy tissue is called what?

Patients who have it usually receive radiation to the whole breast afterwards.

What does the 'N' stand for in the TNM cancer staging system?

T is the tumour and M is metastasis.

In a sentinel lymph node biopsy, how do surgeons find the node to remove?

The sentinel node is the first place cancer spreads, so if it is clear the rest are usually left alone.

Which aggressive breast cancer, in up to 5% of patients, has malignant cells blocking the lymph vessels?

It often shows as a red, swollen breast rather than a lump.

Roughly what share of patients have hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative tumours?

These respond to hormone therapies such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.

Which everyday habit raises breast cancer risk 'even among very light drinkers'?

Obesity, lack of exercise and hormone replacement therapy are also on the risk list.

Every 12 months of breastfeeding reduces a woman's breast cancer risk by roughly how much?

Having children later or not at all is a modest risk factor.

Which of these is listed as a warning sign of breast cancer?

Others include a lump, a change in shape, dimpling of the skin and fluid from the nipple.

Large trials found regular breast self-examination has what effect on cancer deaths?

The WHO shifted its advice to general 'breast awareness' and prompt reporting of any change.

Men with which chromosomal condition have a 20- to 50-fold higher risk of male breast cancer?

BRCA2 mutations are found in about 12 percent of men with the disease.

At what average age are men diagnosed with breast cancer, compared with 63 for women?

Later diagnosis is one reason outcomes for men lag behind.

The oldest known description of breast tumours appears in which ancient Egyptian medical text?

Written around 1600 BC, it describes cauterising the tumours and states flatly that there is no treatment.

The word 'carcinoma' comes from the Greek term Hippocrates used for tumours, which literally means what?

Galen later used 'oncos', meaning swelling, for tumours in general.

Which type of medicine is trastuzumab (Herceptin)?

It is on the WHO's List of Essential Medicines, as is tamoxifen.

Campaigns like 'Save the Tatas' and 'I Love Boobies' bracelets are criticised for relying on what?

Critics say the market is already highly aware and the money should go to research and metastatic patients.

Roughly what percentage of US women having a screening X-ray are called back for more tests?

Most call-backs turn out to be false alarms.

Which former child star announced her breast cancer diagnosis in 1972, helping to reduce the stigma?

Two years later Betty Ford's openness about her mastectomy took the conversation to the White House.

What was the name of the first peer-to-peer breast cancer support group, formed in 1952?

Survivors made in-hospital visits after mastectomies, offering practical and emotional support but never medical advice.

The 1930s–40s 'Women's Field Army' early-detection campaign was run by the forerunner of which organisation?

It used explicit military metaphors, casting prompt medical action as every woman's duty in the war on cancer.

In which year was the first Komen Race for the Cure held?

It took place in October, two years before the first National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Since 2009, which part of October has been designated for Male Breast Cancer Awareness?

Advocacy groups including Out of the Shadow of Pink and A Man's Pink joined forces to establish it.