Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Pink Sunday: An Invitation from Our Affiliate




Make an Impact in your community by participating in PINK SUNDAY!

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2010


Deadline to register: August 13, 2010

Pink Sunday is a community outreach program for breast health and breast cancer education open to all faith-based organizations within our 13 county service area. Sunday, October 24, has been designated as Pink Sunday, and the Lowcountry Affiliate will donate educational materials to registered churches and faith-based organizations. Materials are culturally appropriate for all audiences, including African-American and Hispanic. The Lowcountry Affiliate serves the following counties: Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper, Orangeburg, and Horry. Material pickup will be held in the following counties: Allendale, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Orangeburg, and Horry.

Over 140 churches participated in our first annual Pink Sunday last year, reaching nearly 30,000 women and men with life-saving information about breast cancer and free screening programs in our service area. Some churches had congregations as small as 10, and others had congregations over 1000. Don?t let your community miss out on this amazing event. Pink Sunday is a collaborative event between the South Carolina Komen for the CureŽ affiliates and will reach women and men all over South Carolina with life-saving breast health and breast screening information.

Pink Sunday Toolkit The Importance of Spreading the Word
  • One in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. 1

  • Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S. ages 40-59. 2

  • The five-year survival rate for breast cancer, when caught early before it spreads beyond the breast, is 98 %. 3

  • Breast cancer is a random and deadly disease.

  • The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are being female and getting older.

  • With respect to age, race, religion and socioeconomic status, breast cancer knows no boundaries.

  • Breast cancer typically strikes women during their most productive years both professionally and personally.

  • Breast cancer affects everyone, not just the person diagnosed.

  • Co-survivors (family, friends and co-workers) feel the effects too.

  • Men can get breast cancer, although it is very rare.

Breast Cancer in South Carolina
  • Although SC has a lower rate of incidence of breast cancer than many other states, we have one of the highest rates of death from the disease. 4

  • 2820 new cases of female breast cancers are expected to be diagnosed in SC this year. 3

  • 640 women in SC will die from the disease. 3

  • Breast Cancer is the most common cancer among African American women. 5

  • African American women are more likely to die from breast cancer and experience a higher incidence rate before the age of 35 than Caucasian women.5

  • Caucasian women are diagnosed with breast cancer more often than African American women after the age of 35. 5

  • African American women are more likely to die from the disease. 6

  • About 1 in 40 (2.5%) of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent carry one of three common mutations that may result in an increased risk for breast and/or ovarian cancer. 7

  • In South Carolina, breast cancer mortality is 1.5 times higher in African American women than in Caucasian women. This is the largest disparity in the nation. 5

  • Statewide, more than 20.8 % of residents between 19-64 years old were uninsured in 2007, topping the nation's average of 19.7% uninsured. 8

1 American Cancer Society's Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2007-2008
2 caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/full/58/2/71
3 American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts & Figures 2009
4 American Cancer Society's Global Cancer Facts & Figures 2007
5 http://sccdcn.sph.sc.edu/resources/BreastCancerFactSheet.pdf
6 http://www.sccanceralliance.org/UserFiles/SC%20Cancer%20Plan-%20Health%20Disparities%207.pdf
7 Struewing JP, Hartge P, Wacholder S, et al.: The risk of cancer associated with specific mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 among Ashkenazi Jews. N Engl J Med 1997; 336(20): 1401-8.
8 Urban Institute and Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured estimates based on the Census Bureau's March 2007 and 2008 Current Population Survey (CPS: Annual Social and Economic Supplements)