Why are we just wearing Pink?

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They're running this huge "wear pink" campaign all over the place, even asking middle school children to wear pink to support breast cancer awareness. Why is it just breast cancer? Breast Cancer research is the best funded cancer program in the United States. Breast cancer research received $2,596 per new case compared to just over half of that for prostate cancer, the most common cancer. Why aren't we wearing brown for prostate cancer? Like breast cancer, early detection and treatment can save lives, but I don't see huge public campaigns to save men. How about the number one cancer for men under 40 - testicular cancer? Like breast cancer, it can be detected by self exams and is curable in the vast majority of cases if you catch it early, but unless your doctor discusses it with you, good luck hearing about it.

Women get gender specific cancers at a rate 30% higher than men, but research on those cancer receives 15x the spending. So how come we aren't decorating jock straps to go along with those bras?

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@engineer,

I have some Facebook buds who are sporting blue ribbons and "feel your nuts" logos...maybe you will see more of this awareness soon. Looks like there is a genuine attempt to do so.

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@engineer,

yeah.

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@engineer,

I'm slow on the pink ribbon stuff at the same time I'm glad I knew to get my mammos. We talked about this on a recent thread because Butrflynet and Bumblebeeboogie left a dozen pink roses at my door one day, not long ago - and I liked getting them.

I'm aware of at least reported stuff about questions re reactivity on early breast cancer or prostate cancer being problematic - there has been talk of this for many years now. I have further comments - my xray showed calcifications that an immediate ultrasound scored as worth looking at, and they turned out to be invasive. A lot of the recent talk is to cut down chasing calcifications.

On prostate cancer, I see a lot of information - do you not get google news?

My own bias is against organized campaigns. Me, if I had millions, I donate some to specific research facilities.

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What I always wonder is why breast cancer in men is not included in the Breast cancer awareness campaign (the wear pink campaign).

While it is true that the rate for men is lower, men do still get it.

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_4_1x_what_are_the_key_statistics_for_male_breast_cancer_28.asp

Quote:

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009 about 1,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men in the United States. Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women. For men, the lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about 1/10th of 1% (1 in 1,000). The number of breast cancer cases in men relative to the population has been fairly stable over the last 30 years.

In 2009, about 440 men will die from breast cancer in the United States.

The prognosis (outlook) for men with breast cancer was once thought to be worse than that for women, but recent studies have not found this to be true. Based on looking at each stage, the survival rates are about equal. In other words, men and women with the same stage of breast cancer have a fairly similar outlook for survival.

Last Medical Review: 09/24/2008
Last Revised: 05/13/2009

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Why are we just wearing Pink?

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