Selling Pink

by: Paul Atkinson

October 30, 2007

Pink cookware are just some of the dozens of pink items for sale during breast cancer awareness month.

Think Before You Pink

( Phoenix ) The number of pink products on stores shelves is increasing. And for good reason. Companies know that linking their brand to a cause, in this case--breast cancer, can add to the bottom line. But beware, not all the money you pay to buy such products may be going toward its intended purpose.

Breast Cancer Statistics (source: American Cancer Society)

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.

About 178,480 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2007. About 40,460 women will die from the disease this year. Right now there are about two and a half million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is about 1 in 8. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 35. Breast cancer death rates are going down. This is probably the result of finding the cancer earlier and improved treatment.

While it's not known exactly what causes breast cancer, certain risk factors are linked to the disease. A risk factor is anything that affects a person's chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. Some risk factors, such as smoking, drinking, and diet are linked to things a person does. Others, like a person's age, race, or family history, can't be changed. But having a risk factor, or even many, doesn’t mean that a person will get the disease.

Although many risk factors may increase your chance of developing breast cancer, it is not yet known exactly how some of these risk factors cause cells to become cancerous. Hormones seem to play a role in many cases of breast cancer, but just how this happens is not fully understood.

Some women who have one or more risk factors never get breast cancer. And most women who do get breast cancer don’t have any risk factors. While all women are at risk for breast cancer, the factors listed below can increase a woman’s chances of having the disease. To learn more about risk factors, click here.

Think Before You Pink provides a list of products and a breakdown of how they help breast cancer charities.

How worthy is the non-profit? Check out these rankings of breast cancer related organizations by the independent Charity Navigator organization.

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