Everything's Pink...So Why Isn't There A Cure For Breast Cancer?

It seems that the whole world is pink. You can use a ladle pink, Barbie-doll pink, pink M & Ms, even a limited edition Ford Mustang with a "Pink package!" The pink product purchases generate money for breast cancer research and treatment centers.

So, if everything pink why breast cancer still kill more than 500,000 women (and men) worldwide every year? This has two parts: a simple answer. First, breast cancer is a multifactorial disease, and secondly, the "pinking of the world has so much to do with merchandising products such as the financing of research.

As the second most common cancer (lung cancer is first), breast cancer is a serious health hazard concern, especially for women who are 100-times more likely to develop breast cancer than men. Breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosed in women and is much stronger in developed countries. Women in the U.S. have a 1 in 8 chance of breast cancer and a 1 in 25 chance of dying. The good news is that mortality from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990, with a greater decrease in women younger than 50. These decreases are probably the result of early detection through screening and increased awareness and better treatment.

Breast cancer is the result of many factors, both hereditary and environmental. This includes gene mutations that can occur by exposure to estrogen, viruses and / or radiation, the production of chemicals, the growth speed of tumor growth factor, inherited defects in DNA repair functions, and factors such as age, pregnancy, hormone exposure, high fat diets, tobacco and alcohol use, overweight and shift. Therefore, it is almost impossible to determine which combination of elements of the cancer in a given individual. This situation suggests that there may be many possible approaches to defeat breast cancer. However, the correlations between the factors makes it difficult to develop a successful concept.

Once the diagnosis of breast cancer has been made, the individual woman's disease is carefully studied to learn as much as possible about the particular circumstances of their breast cancer and provides staging, classification, evaluation of receptors, growth factors and hormones gene expression.

The tumor is staged by size, involvement of other tissues and in the lymph nodes or other organs. About 90% of new cases of cancer in the U.S. are considered early stage. Tumors are sorted, such as biopsied cells behave. The more the cancer cells behave like normal cells, which are less aggressive. Receptor assessment includes tests for tumor sensitivity to the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Tumors are also on the presence of growth hormone, HER2, the acceleration of tumor growth and the newly developed tests for the gene expression may predict the likelihood of recidivism.

TREATMENT options are as complex as the disease.

(1) surgery, the tumor is the most common first treatment. Recent conservation of breast surgery in combination with radiation have been just as effective as mastectomy.

(2) Radiotherapy uses high dose radiation to destroy cancer cells. Although some of the surrounding cells may also be affected, radiation is considered as a localized treatment.

(3) multi-agent chemotherapy is usually for women with potential for or evidence of cancer spread. Because cancer cells grow rapidly, they will be killed faster than non-cancer cells. Chemotherapy often have a negative impact on other fast growing cells in the body, such as gastric mucosa cells and hair cells.

(4) immunotherapy using the immune system to fight cancer. Women who are positive for HER2 with trastuzumab (Herceptin), a monoclonal antibody that blocks the effect of this growth hormone.

(5) Hormonal therapy is used in some situations in which breast cancer tumors grow faster in the presence of female hormones. Drugs such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors (anastrozole, letrozole, and exemestane) either lower estrogen or prevent cancer cells from the ability to use them.

One of the biggest advances in cancer research is the discovery of therapies that are only on cancer cells. In the future, some types of cancer May, over long periods of time regularly drug therapies, such as the management of other chronic diseases. The following therapies that are currently in clinical trials show promise.

(1) cancer vaccines - A protein called carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is 40 to 60 percent of tumors of the breast, as well as others. The researchers put the gene for CEA in the virus used to vaccinate against smallpox and for the production of antibodies and immune cells against tumors.

(2) angiogenesis - A tumor needs a constant supply of blood and nutrients to grow, the process is called angiogenesis. A number of medications that may angiogenesis are under development.

(3) Photodynamic therapy - a photosensitizing agent is either in the bloodstream or injected to the skin. Once the drug is provided by the cancer cells, light is only on the area to treat. The light causes the drug to react with oxygen, a chemical that kills the cancer cells.

The marriage of breast cancer research fundraising with merchandising product has a whole new generation of cause-based product promotion. Although the amount of money for breast cancer research by pinking product is not known, analysts estimate that the cause-marketing is about $ 1.44 billion in donations to the causes. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation alone has $ 267 million.

Any company that is making itself with this fundraising event its own decisions about how they distribute the money, buy the product and to whom the money be given. In some cases, companies operating in "pinking" have less weight to support a worthy cause and more emphasis on riding the coattails of the Pink Ribbon. As an example, some companies pledge a percent of sales to breast cancer research, to be limited, whereas some companies a one-time donation as 10,000 U.S. dollars from the sale of their products, once again enticing people to spend money for a cause who may never see their money.

In fact, some companies, perhaps even the sale of products that may have the risk of breast cancer. Yoplait the 2008-campaign "Save lids to save lives," urged consumers to buy pink-lidded cups and for every pink lid returned, Yoplait will donate ten cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, up to $ 1 , 5 million. A woman would have to eat three containers of Yoplait every day during the four-month campaign to $ 36th However, the yogurt from cows with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), and interestingly, there are numerous health, including breast cancer, the use of rBGH. Primarily on the efforts of the Think Before You Pink project of the Breast Cancer Association, General Mills in February 2009 announced that the rBGH milk from Yoplait yogurt

The Think Before You Pink project suggests that you ask the following questions before you buy pink.

(1) How much money actually goes to breast cancer research and is a reasonable donation, as the price for the product?

(2) What is the maximum amount that is donated? If the maximum is too low, your purchase may not result in a contribution at all.

(3) What are the resources? If you have a coupon or to a website and a little more, you are really there to do?

(4) Where does the money go? The Breast Cancer Association suggests that the greatest needs are in the treatment of women with low incomes, the development of breast cancer (not for the screening, which already through the efforts of other groups) and support for under-funded, innovative research.

(5) What is the company do to ensure that it is not in the incidence of breast cancer? You can think before you pink website to read about possible conflicts.

The quintessence is, breast cancer is COMPLEX IN PINK ARE MARKETING complicated.

Breast cancer is still a major cause of death among women throughout the world, because it occurs as the result of a number of hereditary and environmental factors. It is difficult to treat, for the same reasons. However, breast cancer research has made enormous progress in the treatment of the disease and perhaps one day make cancer a manageable, like diabetes.

Pink Marketing has added millions of dollars to breast cancer research, but you can be sure that the product you buy pink donates enough funds to cover the most important areas of need and not help the problem by offering products that are associated with the risk of developing breast cancer. If you are not sure about a pink product on the website Think Before You Pink or make a donation directly to the dozens of breast cancer research, education or support organizations.

Until medical research, the problem of breast cancer, do your part to improve the early detection, which includes a commitment to regular breast self-examination of the test and be sure to a mammography examination in the program with your doctor suggests.

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