For breast cancer, pink is more than a color: it is research, it is survival and it is the support that people with cancer need.
A pink tide invades us every October to support a movement born 50 years ago when thousands of women around the world took to the streets to destigmatizing breast cancer and promoting its research and early diagnosis.
The achievements, such as the implementation of mammograms or the most effective treatments with new surgical methods, radio or immunotherapies, demonstrate that social mobilization to fight for the rights of people with cancer takes concrete form in extraordinary results, such as the current 85% survival rate for breast cancer, the most common among women, that in 2021 in our country 34,750 people were diagnosed.
Already in the 90s, large companies echoed this movement and dyed it pink, spread the message and give it greater visibility in society. Since then, pink has become an international symbol of breast cancer engagement and awareness. In the Spanish Cancer Association We want to reclaim the importance of everything behind this movement, which far from those who accuse it of being a “banal” or “beautifier” cancer, means much more.
For this reason, we want to keep moving this movement forward to continue addressing outstanding challenges, such as promote metastatic breast cancer research which has a 25% survival level, or the challenge of reduce the impact of the disease in the economic, social and psychological spheresthrough access to the services that patients need and to which they often cannot access, because the psycho-oncological service necessary for the treatment of the patient is not available in a large number of hospitals and cancer centers. 50% of diagnosed people suffer a strong psychological impact due to illness. In the social sphere, greater support is also needed for 70% of people who have lost their salary or income or 34% of those diagnosed who lose their jobs. This situation makes it impossible for many families to cope with the most 9,000 euros of direct expenses which causes the disease during the average 9-12 months of treatment duration and the consequence is that 15% are in a situation of extreme economic and working vulnerability due to the disease.
Faced with this situation in Spanish Cancer Association We respond strongly: in 2021 we have treated 16,000 breast cancer patients and in turn we promote the Research with funding from over 17 million euros a 75 grants for breast cancer research projects29 of which are specifically focused on metastatic breast cancer.
But we cannot go this route alone, for the nearly 35,000 people diagnosed each year and for all those living with this serious disease which has a huge impact on their quality of life, we ask a more determined support from society and public and private bodies, so that the pink movement helps us to carry out greater research and global care of the needs of patientswhich guarantees the equity they deserve when dealing with cancer.
