Have you been seeing pink this month – such as on the lids of your Yoplait yogurt? That’s because it’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a partnership of numerous organizations working together to promote breast cancer awareness, share information on the disease and provide greater access to screening services.
Here at PatientsLikeMe, we have 147 patients reporting breast cancer as well as 10 patients reporting inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a rare but very aggressive form of the disease. Notably, 93% of our breast cancer patients are female, and 7% of them are male. (Although breast cancer primarily occurs in women, it can occur in men too, with approximately 1,910 new cases per year in the US for men.)
Given that breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer for women (after skin cancer), we know there are many more breast cancer patients and survivors out there than our membership numbers show. That’s why we encourage anyone affected by breast cancer to join PatientsLikeMe and share your treatment data to help others. For example, what was your experience with radiation or lumpectomy? What tips would you give other patients? These are the types of invaluable data points you can share here.
Finally, we’d like to leave with you a glimpse into the life of a real breast cancer patient who has battled the disease three times – as well as multiple sclerosis. Read our candid interview with TysabriSept08 in honor of National Cancer Survivors Day this past June.
