I have asked this once before and struck a nerve...?

Question

and had Yahoo Answers yank it saying it was not a question. Doubtless this has to do with the ton of money Yahoo is paying to have a pink ribbon on their front page.

Yes, I agree breast cancer is a terrible and hideous disease. But...


Why is so much more attention being paid to breast cancer than other forms of cancer?

The incidence of breast cancer for women who reach 90 is 15% compared to almost 100% of men who reach 90 experiencing prostate cancer. What about lung cancer which kills more women than breast cancer? Or heart disease that kills 100,000 more people every year than all forms of cancer combined. Or auto accidents that indiscriminantly kill 40,000 people a year, mostly young people. Why is this one disease recieving so much attention to the detriment of so many other diseases and social ills that have a much higher death toll? It's a fair question and should be respected as such. The only answer I have is 'better marketing'. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Answer 1

ok Breast cancer is treatable if a woman detects it early enough and it is a simple test /self exam or have a lover exam but it can be done. It is about education. I doubt any more money is going into the research and cure for it as any other cancer. The money generally goes to the national cancer society which then splits it up between the cancers. Im sorry but society cares more about a young person dying than a old person. There just seems even less just for someone to die in their youth.

Lung cancer..... come on people lung cancer was around as long as any others and it can strike anyone anywhere. WOW you sure are on a no smoking kick but what about all the carcinagents released in the air everyday by combustion engines dont see you walking. so guess you should just be quite.

Comparing auto accidents to illness is comparing apples and oranges. No simularities to compare.
So just donate to the national cancer society and you will have cancer covered and if you werent donating why did you ask????
Or better yet PKD polycystic kidney disease It is genetic and kills more than most cancers combined. That where my money goes cause my family has it!!!!

Answer 2

Marketing, could be.
I think it mostly has to do with awareness though. Something like breast cancer can be caught early with a relatively simple self examination (usually), and hence the mortality rate can be greatly reduced.
Prostate cancer demands men to go into a doctors office (which we mostly hate) and do it often.
Lung cancer also requires an examination from a doctor.
Breast cancer is possibly just more accessable to the general public.
But then again it may also just be the cause de jour. Look at AIDS a decade ago (you dont hear nearly as much about it now even though it is just as widespread or worse).
Ultimately though, if we can help any disease get reduced or cured it is a good thing.
If men decide that they want to talk about prostate cancer as openly as women do with breast cancer, then maybe there will be another color of ribbon stuck to minivans.

Answer 3

That's an interesting question.

I wonder if it isn't because breast cancer can be easily detected early by simple self-examination and therefore cured if treated early enough, while with other types of cancer it's harder for people to detect it themselves. I think maybe all the attention is so that women will be more aware of it and will examine their breasts regularly so that if there is a problem it will be discovered and treated early and the consequences will be less serious then.

All types of cancer deserve attention, they are all very serious, but I think this may be the reason why breast cancer gets more publicity than other types.

Answer 4

No disrespect to sufferers, hey, it could be me next in line. It is about sexuality. A friend had to have a hysterectomy, she was hysterical, because she thought she would not be a woman anymore [she was in her early 40's]. It is the same thing for a lot of woman with breast cancer, they feel their atractiveness as a woman is reduced[no pun intended], or gone. Their husbands feel the same way. Men in general judge a woman by her breast size. I have a friend who had a bilateral mastectomy @ 15 years ago, and had a different breast cancer a year ago. She is preparing for augmentaion/repair surgery. She is in her 50's. My point exactly.She wants to feel attractive, again.
Our society revolves around what is sexy, and what is not .It is no surprize to me that we would pay more attention to a woman's breasts than to any of the other statistics you mentioned.
Why don't we have similar fundraisers and awareness for prostate CA? Prostate problems are just not discussed. Men, unlike women, tend to keep medical problems, especially that one, to themselves. The surgery could, potentially, make the man impotent. There is no way a man would march in a parade, wearing a tee-shirt proclaiming his impotantcy. Men fear that condition, maybe more than anything else.
Thankfully, there has been a movement towards publicizing the incidence of prostate cancer, and it's potential side effects. People who are like you, are questioning why some diseases get publicity, and others do not. And seeing to it that other diseases, and other ways of dying, are getting some well deserved publicity
And you are right, better marketing, by a group of humans who are willing to publisize..And the test for prostate cancer is embarrassinly personal, and men fear it, too.
Please forgive any spelling errors. Spellcheck is not working, again.
And good for you! You just joined the movement to publisize the need for prostate cancer awareness!

Answer 5

Wow, great question, I only wish I had the answer. My thoughts, maybe the people promoting the associations raising money do alot more promoting. Breast cancer has the whole pink ribbon, pink yoplait lids, all kinds of promoting. I've started to see some Prostate cancer billboards, and hear radio ads, and see tv ads but still no where near as much as breast cancer.

Answer 6

Or how about wars that kill countless millions? the answer may lie in several reasons, postate cancer typicaly strikes the old like you said, and most men dont live to 90 ( typically wemon live about 6-10 years longer). Brest cancer is very common, and typicaly affects just as much the young as the old (unlike prostate cancer[ not that it doesnt ever affect the young]) we cant really fix auto accidents with research, its the driver... While on the topic of human error, Lung cancer is also caused by humans, wether your a smoker, or spend a lot of time around them. There are countless things you havent accounted for. And yes those are all worth while causes, and if your so pasionate about prostate cancer... Get a foundation of your own going...

Answer 7

I am not sure if public attention leads to faster development of treatments. A lot of public atention is just talk. But there was a grat deal of publicity about breast cancer, because the common wisdom (wrongly) was that only if all women had mamograms the problem would be solved. Easy and cheap solution. Well..like all easy and cheap solutions it proved to be wrong.

Also, women's problems get more attention these days, especialy f it is related to their sexuality, because we have become a society obsessed with sex (having it, or preventing other people from having it), and women derive a graet deal of power from that.

Answer 8

Why do you say that attention to the breast cancer cause is "detrimental" to other diseases and social ills?
- It seems to me that people who are aware of and willing to devote the time to any given cause, be it breast cancer or prostate cancer, have the right to decide for themselves what their cause is. Apparently a lot of people feel that breast cancer awareness is a good thing, and that they are willing to devote time, energy, money etc. to this worthy cause is applaudable.

Answer 9

Despite years of attempts to educated women world-wide women continue to not do breast self exams. The survival rate increases dramatically the earlier a lump is detected. That being said ..if all types of cancer could be so easily detected with self exams I am sure they too would be in the media to raise awareness. The fact that we can do something to catch it early is why you are bombarded with that aggravating little pink ribbon.

Answer 10

It's simple. The response you get from agencies, corporations, groups, comes from the people. If enough people wanted to get something done, they will voice it and the more people that voice it, the more response and support they get.
Marketting has little to do w/it. It's what your passion is... if your passion was to support the war and you had enough people to do it, and you went out to take it public, because of the large group that you get together, you will get your $$$$$$$$.
But, of course, it could very well be just the fact that the breasts are important to the "vain" eye and to the pleasure of man. So, it gets noticed more and gets more attention.