Guest Article by Trevor Bradshaw

Remembering the Sacrifices of Breast Cancer Patients

We’re nearly two weeks into October, which is of course National Breast Cancer Month, and although I’ve seen plenty of pink (on everything from football players cleats to sunglasses) there’s hardly been any real dialogue about the serious health implications of breast cancer or information about the importance of breast exams and screening.  With the lack of any real discussion surrounding breast cancer this October it’s probably pretty safe to say that National Breast Cancer Month has become a referendum of pink ribbons, sentimental fund-raising, and saucy t-shirts, when it ought to be a remembrance of the struggle that an estimated 1 in 8 women will encounter throughout their lives.   

By trivializing National Breast Cancer Month, we run the risk not only of trivializing one of the deadliest, most dangerous forms of cancer- we run the risk of alienating the women who have survived it.  Our focus instead should be on honoring and remembering those women who have been diagnosed, and ensuring that they receive the best care and quality of life possible. 

In particular, there have been thousands of brave women who have volunteered for experimental clinical trials despite significant risks to further our understanding of cancer.  Clinical trials, which are studies of new treatments and medicines conducted on actual breast cancer patients before being released to the general public, are an indispensable resource to future medical gains because they allow doctors to assess the benefits and effects of different treatments in a real-world setting. As such, when breast cancer patients volunteer for clinical trials they are further assisting in medical research and helping the thousands of women who have yet to be diagnosed. Of course, clinical trials often have a multitude of risks, including the chance of serious or unpleasant side-effects.  Everyone has heard the talking points at the end of pharmaceutical commercials listing the side-effects, and it’s in clinical trials that those side effects are diagnosed.  Even worse, the treatment or medicine administered in the clinical trial may ultimately prove to be ineffective.  

Of course, breast cancer patients aren’t the only ones who volunteer for clinical trials- there are currently Hodgkin Lymphoma clinical trials, mesothelioma clinical trials, and many others- but for National Breast Cancer Month we ought to remember the sacrifices and struggles that millions of women have made rather than focusing on “feel-good fund-raising activities.”