For the month of October, Cape Coral Police Department personnel will be showing their support for those affected by breast cancer.
Officers were given the option to purchase pink badges and/or ID card lanyards in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and, for the second year, are now able to wear them on their uniforms through the end of October. A portion of the proceeds from each badge and lanyard went directly to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
With the prevalence of breast cancer, we hope this gesture will allow us to maybe brighten someone’s day, help them keep their spirits up during their own fight, or help them remember a lost friend or family member.
Some facts about breast cancer:
• About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
• In 2018, an estimated 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S.
• About 2,470 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2017. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.
• Breast cancer incidence rates in the U.S. began decreasing in the year 2000, after increasing for the previous two decades. They dropped by 7% from 2002 to 2003 alone. One theory is that this decrease was partially due to the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by women after the results of a large study called the Women’s Health Initiative were published in 2002. These results suggested a connection between HRT and increased breast cancer risk.
• About 40,920 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2018 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1989. Women under 50 have experienced larger decreases. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.
• For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.
• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women.
• In women under 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than white women. Overall, African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer. For Asian, Hispanic, and Native-American women, the risk of developing and dying from breast cancer is lower.
• As of March 2017, there are more than 3.1 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.
• A woman’s risk of breast cancer nearly doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Less than 15% of women who get breast cancer have a family member diagnosed with it.
• About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations.
• The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender (being a woman) and age (growing older).
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