Within 2016, it‘s estimated that 246,660 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States according to breastcancer.org.
Although breast cancer is common,  breast cancer research is the most funded cancer out there. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation states on their website“for every dollar spent, 91 cents is committed to tackling this disease…With more than half a billion dollars raised to date, that’s progress.”
The American Cancer Society released statistics as of Aug. 1 on current grants from the federal government involving cancer and the amount each cancer was funded.  Breast cancer received a total of 160 grants with a total of $88.2 million towards funding. This is at least $29,000 more than any other cancer receives in grant funding.
The breast cancer five-year survival rate is 89 percent, whereas the pancreatic cancer five-year survival rate is 7 percent. That means only seven out of 100 people with pancreatic cancer will live to five years past their diagnosis.
Pancreatic cancer is a hard to catch early and most do not catch it until it’s too late. The pancreas is a gland behind the stomach that produces insulin and it’s vital to life. Pancreatic cancer currently has a significantly less amount of funding from the federal government for research.
They only receive $16.6 million, which is only around 18 percent of what breast cancer research receives.
From all the breast cancer fundraising that occurs during the month of October, the research funding will continue to grow. If donors switch the focus to other kinds of cancer, it could be very beneficial in simply raising the survival rate for cancers with very low survival rates.
Donating to cancer research is never a negative act, but it’s important to know where your money is most needed. It‘s easy to buy the pink productyou see is labeled to help breast cancer research, but how much of those profits actually go to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation?
Every year, many beauty products are revealed around October which claim to benefit breast cancer research with every purchase. Bobbi Brown released lip pencils for $50, but only $10 goes to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Clinique released a moisturizer retailing for $38 and $10goes to the foundation.
There is a trend relating to the amount of money actually donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and it showsa lot of products only give a fraction of profits to the foundation.
If you are going to donate to breast cancer research in October by purchasing something pink, it’simportant to look for products that give 100 percent of their profits to research funding.
The NFL sells all the sport teams gear you could ever want with pink detailing and they claim100 percent of their profits go directly to the American Cancer Society.
Breast Cancer fundraising is easy now. If it’s pink and advertised as supporting breast cancer, consumers buy it. If you are going to purchase pink, make sure you know where your money is going.
If you would rather donate somewhereyour money could be better used, look online and consider donating to other cancer research foundations.
The National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, The Leukemia Research Foundation and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund are great alternatives and you can find how to donate on their websites.