Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2025

Before I was diagnosed, October meant two things: pumpkins and candy. (Maybe a few orange and red leaves, but mostly candy.) Now I think of it as the Pink Month, when Breast Cancer Awareness Month seems to turn much of the country pink.

I’ve written about what pink means to me but it’s worth repeating: yes, “pinkwashing” exists and some distasteful uses of the pink ribbon can be found with the simplest Internet search.

But I see the color as a reminder that there are still too many women (and men) diagnosed with breast cancer every year. The most recent data (2024-25) from the American Cancer Society is sobering, and also reveals the inequities in our health care system:

• 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime;
• 1 in 43 will die from the disease;
• Black women have a 5% lower breast cancer incidence but 38% higher mortality rate “due to later diagnosis and less access to high-quality healthcare.”
• Breast cancer in the U.S. increased in women under 50: the rate has risen 1.4% per year (2012-2022).
• The National Cancer Institute estimates that 42,170 women will die from breast cancer in 2025, representing 6.8% of all cancer deaths.

The pink ribbon is a reminder that we still have to work to do and we need to be vigilant: get the recommended breast screenings, listen to your body if you feel unwell, support breast cancer research efforts (writing a letter to your Congressperson about funding research or making a monetary donation), honor anyone in your life who has been affected by breast cancer. Do something.

When I see someone with a pink ribbon–at an airport, in the grocery store, on the sidewalk, or at a coffee shop–I always walk over to them and say: “I’m a survivor. Thank you.”

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