Yep. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has a blind spot alright.
What am I talking about?
Let me explain.
For those of you who went through a driver’s education course way back when, or recently for that matter, did your instructor talk about that blind spot? Were you taught that you should turn your head to your left and actually look behind you before passing the car in front of you?
I remember discussion about the blind spot during driver’s ed class quite well. Funny the things we can remember and the things we cannot, isn’t it?
It can be startling when you’re driving down the freeway, getting ready to pass the car in front of you, and out of nowhere it seems, a car appears on your left. You had glanced in your mirrors before starting to pass, but never saw that car. Things looked all clear, but that wasn’t actually the case.
That car behind you and to your left was in your blind spot.
Luckily, these days many cars have a little light that comes on in the side mirror letting you know a car is approaching from the rear in your blind spot.
By now, you know where I’m going with this analogy…
Think about it.
Even if you’ve finished active treatment and you think you’re in the clear, you’re not. Not completely anyway. Breast cancer can recur, sometimes years, even decades later.
Metastatic breast cancer is there — lurking in your blind spot. Even if you don’t see or expect it, sometimes it creeps up on you, seemingly out of nowhere, catching you by surprise.
It seems to me that for the past three+ decades, metastatic breast cancer has been in Breast Cancer Awareness Month’s blind spot too.
No matter how much pink is slathered into any awareness campaign, no matter how hard some folks try to look the other way avoiding the topic of MBC altogether, no matter how silly and trivializing a particular meme or slogan gets, MBC is still lurking.
MBC is in Breast Cancer Awareness Month’s blind spot. It’s there. Like it or not.
Try as some might, it shouldn’t, and can’t, be ignored.
“Turning our heads” and facing hard truths is what needs to happen during BCAM and beyond.
Hard truths such as:
- 20-30% of early stage breast cancers will metastasize at some point down the road.
- This year, another 43,000+ women and men will die from MBC.
- Early detection is important, but it is not a guarantee.
- Every year, roughly 2800 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and over 500 will die from MBC.
- The 5-year survival rate for women with MBC is 28%, and for men it’s 22% (Source: Cancer.Net)
- 6-10% of MBC cases are diagnosed de novo – from the beginning.
- MBC can be treated, but it cannot be cured.
You might want to read, Metastatic Breast Cancer, Let’s Talk About It.
Blind spots can be dangerous for drivers. Ignoring the reality of your blind spot makes no sense. Neglecting to turn your head to check for that all clear can have dire consequences.
It’s much the same regarding MBC.
Ignoring reality, the possibility of recurrence, makes no sense either. Failing to talk about MBC during BCAM and beyond helps no one, hinders genuine awareness, and slows progress that will find answers to help all stages.
It’s time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month to “turn its head,” focus more on MBC, embrace the metastatic community more completely; in short, it’s time for BCAM to stop ignoring its blind spot.
Failing to do so can have dire consequences too.
Do you agree that MBC has been in BCAM’s blind spot for too long?
Why or why not?
How can we encourage more focus on MBC during BCAM and beyond?
Mary Ireland
Wednesday 8th of November 2023
Hi, Nancy,
Yes, mbc has been in the pink ribbon's blind spot for far too long.
I can't thank you enough for recommending the documentary "Pink Ribbons. Inc.," which shattered my already cracked, rose colored glasses.
It made so many excellent points, although it completely ignored men as cancer havers. Indeed, I think the choice of pink for bcam implies that bc is an exclusively female disease; no men need apply, unless they are the selfless, ardent supporters of female cancer havers.
The strongest mbc point made in the film was made by one member of the mbc support group: mbc is the elephant in the room. Cancer havers are learning to live; mbc cancer havers are learning to die.
Does that mean that they have no place in a walk/race for the cure? That is the implication, but the concept of a cure is misplaced. How can we find a cure for something, the cause of which we don't know? Definitely a cart before the horse situation.
We don't know what we don't know about bc, which, Dr. Susan Love explains, is why treatment - "slash, burn, and poison" - has not changed over decades of so-called breast cancer awareness.
I am sceptical of the Komen Foundation. It has allegedly donated well over a billion dollars to breast cancer research. It doesn't reveal the specific research targets for that money. I tend to think the Foundation's goal is fund-raising and it is pathetically late to the "cure" party.
I watched the 2023 press release by Estee Lauder Corp, highlighting Elizabeth Hurley as its spokesperson. It made me sick. All she could say, visibly ill-at-ease, was how great it was to wear a pink suit in October, bcam.
Couldn't their marketing people have coached her with statistics of dollars donated to research, the goals of that research? No, it seems more focused on and proud of its role in stealing the ribbon idea from its originator by cleverly changing the color from peach to pink. Indeed, marketing is all.
How long will it take for people to buy more than the bs drivel we hear every October? When will those in the supposed corporate fundraising vanguard start exploding the myth it has espoused for decades, namely, that getting a mammogram will protect you from getting bc? That bc is not, as pink ribbon culture would have you believe, pretty, feminine, and normal?
My tirade is preaching to the choir, I know. Although I do not have mbc, it could be lurking in my future. I won't know until I get there.
Nevertheless, men and women with mbc need a place at the adults' table, because their cause is ours. Bcam needs an inclusivity overhaul and it needs a clear focus on finding the cause of bc and the cause of metastasis. It is time for new leadership dedicated to that focus.
Nancy
Thursday 16th of November 2023
Mary, Your comments are spot on. All of them. It could be a blog post! :)
Beth Gainer
Wednesday 18th of October 2023
Excellent post, Nancy! Cancer is ugly and breast cancer cannot be prettied up by ribbons. People don't talk enough about MBC. I and friends have donated to Metavivor, which has its sights on the road, rather than having that blind spot.
Nancy
Tuesday 24th of October 2023
Beth, Cancer is indeed ugly and can't and shouldn't be prettied up. I, too, donate to METAvivor as its focus is entirely on metastatic breast cancer. That's where I want my donated dollars going. Ultimately, helping to figure out MBC helps us all. Thank you for commenting.
Meredith
Thursday 10th of November 2022
This is one of your best recent articles, Nancy, and the car analogy is perfect. Well done!
Yes, MBC has been in BCAM's blind spot for far too long. Why? Ignoring reality has become common, acceptable behavior in multiple facets of our culture, such as climate change, even hurricane warnings to evacuate.
How to encourage more focus on MBC leaves me groping for answers. I start by being honest and upfront about my diagnosis whenever possible. This requires discretion because I am every survivor's worst nightmare. Meaningful change requires effort, diplomacy, activism and dedication. Sometimes I just don't have the energy.
Christina Jue
Monday 31st of October 2022
I went to the Komen event in Austin TX "2022 Komen Central Texas MORE THAN PINK Walk". Although they have work left to go before MBC people can really feel included, they are making great strides in that direction. Their main breast cancer speaker was a women who has mets, a friend of mine that I had made in support group. They had some swag that was targeted to just those with metastatic disease. And their "highlighted" BC people included another friend of mine with mets and me (I also have mets).
Also Komen has improved their website both to highlight their metastatic research initiative and greatly improved the visuals of their metastatic information page for the diagnosed.
What I really noticed is that there wasn't any mention of men with MBC, but maybe I can push for more acknowledgement next year.
Christina
Monday 31st of October 2022
@Nancy, I do tend to push Metavivor over Komen. However, given how limited MBC knowledge is out there, I feel like awareness is critical at this stage. So, even thought Komen's annual walk isn't to my taste, I still go to try to increase the awareness of MBC folks.
According to their website "79 percent supports research focused on the most aggressive breast cancers, metastasis and recurrence" for the '23 grants. I know they have 1.5 mil grant for Duke/UNC for Metastatic Breast Cancer.
I know that you do not like Komen after reading your posts for over three years now, but I do think it's important to see in real space how metastatic breast cancer is being talked about. I still live and move through the real world, even though I've had MBC for a year now.
https://www.komen.org/breast-cancer-research/grants/metastatic-breast-cancer-collaborative-research-initiative/ https://unclineberger.org/news/susan-g-komen-announces-1-5-million-in-grants-for-metastatic-breast-cancer-research/
Nancy
Monday 31st of October 2022
Christina, I am not a Komen fan due to the lack of attention/dollars that have been given to MBC over the years. Having said that, I'm very glad to read your comment. Perhaps things are slowing improving. I still wonder what the financial report reveals - how much of the money raked in is donated to MBC stuff. It's too bad they aren't more inclusive of men. Good for you for your willingness to push for more acknowledgment of men with BC next year. Thank you for sharing and my best to you.