USA Today
In 1982, Nancy Brinker started a foundation to fight breast cancer in memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who had died from the disease two years earlier. Back then, Brinker says, her only assets were $200 in cash and a shoebox of names of potential donors.
Since then, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has raised more than $1.5 billion, becoming the world's largest non-profit source of money to combat breast cancer, says Brinker, 63.
USA TODAY's Liz Szabo talked to Brinker, who survived breast cancer at age 37, about her new memoir, Promise Me (Crown Archetype, $25.99).
Q: What led you to start this foundation?
A: It was some weeks before she died, and she said, "I really want you to put an end to breast cancer." I said, "Suzy, I promise. I'll help. Even if it takes me the rest of my life."
I thought I was young and smart. I thought I would get this done, or get a significant part of it done, in 10 years. It has taken every bit of 30 years to get where we are today.
Q: How have attitudes about breast cancer changed since the 1970s, when your sister was diagnosed?
A: When my sister was ill, I observed that even in my very admiring and loving town (Peoria, Ill.), when I'd go back to visit, sometimes we'd see people cross the street when they saw us. There were people who thought that breast cancer was contagious. You didn't call it breast cancer. You called it the Big C. People thought therapy was worse than the disease. There was just a terrible, terrible fear. It was hard to make any progress in terms of awareness. I thought, "You can't change anything in the clinic or in the laboratory before you change the culture."
Q: What made you think you could cure breast cancer?
A: The model that I grew up with as a 5-year-old girl was polio, and how our nation and our neighborhoods and our communities rallied. There was barely a day when you didn't hear about the March of Dimes. The whole nation was mobilized. We developed a vaccine, and then we found a way to deliver that care.
Q: Komen is widely credited with associating breast cancer awareness with the color pink and with pink ribbons. How did that start?
A: From 1983, we used little pink ribbons. Our original colors for the Race for the Cure and the invitations were pink with a gray background. Then others saw it and borrowed it.
Q: Not everyone loves the pink ribbon. Some survivors say they don't want to be cheery. And some critics say Breast Cancer Awareness Month has become commercialized.
A: When people say there is too much pink, I say there is not nearly enough pink. Without the red AIDS ribbon, we wouldn't have anti-retroviral treatments. We wouldn't have a cure for polio without the March of Dimes.
Please don't tell me we have too much pink, when every 69 seconds a woman is dying of breast cancer in the world. Pink doesn't just mean having a celebration; it shows the power of a grass-roots organization.
We have 2.5 million breast cancer survivors alive today. There isn't nearly enough pink. Get ready for a whole lot more.
Q: There has also been some criticism of Komen's fundraising partners. KFC, for example, sold a pink bucket of chicken last spring and summer with the Komen logo. Is it a problem to raise money for breast cancer research by selling unhealthful food?
A: We raise $55 million a year through cause marketing.
The partnership with KFC allowed us to reach many millions of women that we had not been able to reach before. If you look at the number of women who heard these messages for the very first time, it was a good partnership. Would we like to do more with healthy eating? Yes, but we also like to reach entire sectors of the population who haven't heard these messages.
Q: What are the biggest challenges for the future? What haven't you achieved?
A: Access to care is always going to be a challenge. Making sure that people have access to the best care and that the newest medicines are delivered to the public in a reasonable amount of time.
I think we have made significant progress in early breast cancer. I think we are going to make a lot more progress in more aggressive types of the disease, such as inflammatory disease.
We are going to see progress in turning aggressive breast cancer into a chronic disease. And within a few decades, I think we will understand how to prevent the disease from happening in the first place.
Q: What would your sister think of everything you've done?
A: I think she would love it. I think she would be very pleased. At the time she was dying, my life was a little bit confused. She wanted me to have a focus in my life and for me to commit to something. I think she would say, "Keep going."
Since then, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has raised more than $1.5 billion, becoming the world's largest non-profit source of money to combat breast cancer, says Brinker, 63.
USA TODAY's Liz Szabo talked to Brinker, who survived breast cancer at age 37, about her new memoir, Promise Me (Crown Archetype, $25.99).
Q: What led you to start this foundation?
A: It was some weeks before she died, and she said, "I really want you to put an end to breast cancer." I said, "Suzy, I promise. I'll help. Even if it takes me the rest of my life."
I thought I was young and smart. I thought I would get this done, or get a significant part of it done, in 10 years. It has taken every bit of 30 years to get where we are today.
Q: How have attitudes about breast cancer changed since the 1970s, when your sister was diagnosed?
A: When my sister was ill, I observed that even in my very admiring and loving town (Peoria, Ill.), when I'd go back to visit, sometimes we'd see people cross the street when they saw us. There were people who thought that breast cancer was contagious. You didn't call it breast cancer. You called it the Big C. People thought therapy was worse than the disease. There was just a terrible, terrible fear. It was hard to make any progress in terms of awareness. I thought, "You can't change anything in the clinic or in the laboratory before you change the culture."
Q: What made you think you could cure breast cancer?
A: The model that I grew up with as a 5-year-old girl was polio, and how our nation and our neighborhoods and our communities rallied. There was barely a day when you didn't hear about the March of Dimes. The whole nation was mobilized. We developed a vaccine, and then we found a way to deliver that care.
Q: Komen is widely credited with associating breast cancer awareness with the color pink and with pink ribbons. How did that start?
A: From 1983, we used little pink ribbons. Our original colors for the Race for the Cure and the invitations were pink with a gray background. Then others saw it and borrowed it.
Q: Not everyone loves the pink ribbon. Some survivors say they don't want to be cheery. And some critics say Breast Cancer Awareness Month has become commercialized.
A: When people say there is too much pink, I say there is not nearly enough pink. Without the red AIDS ribbon, we wouldn't have anti-retroviral treatments. We wouldn't have a cure for polio without the March of Dimes.
Please don't tell me we have too much pink, when every 69 seconds a woman is dying of breast cancer in the world. Pink doesn't just mean having a celebration; it shows the power of a grass-roots organization.
We have 2.5 million breast cancer survivors alive today. There isn't nearly enough pink. Get ready for a whole lot more.
Q: There has also been some criticism of Komen's fundraising partners. KFC, for example, sold a pink bucket of chicken last spring and summer with the Komen logo. Is it a problem to raise money for breast cancer research by selling unhealthful food?
A: We raise $55 million a year through cause marketing.
The partnership with KFC allowed us to reach many millions of women that we had not been able to reach before. If you look at the number of women who heard these messages for the very first time, it was a good partnership. Would we like to do more with healthy eating? Yes, but we also like to reach entire sectors of the population who haven't heard these messages.
Q: What are the biggest challenges for the future? What haven't you achieved?
A: Access to care is always going to be a challenge. Making sure that people have access to the best care and that the newest medicines are delivered to the public in a reasonable amount of time.
I think we have made significant progress in early breast cancer. I think we are going to make a lot more progress in more aggressive types of the disease, such as inflammatory disease.
We are going to see progress in turning aggressive breast cancer into a chronic disease. And within a few decades, I think we will understand how to prevent the disease from happening in the first place.
Q: What would your sister think of everything you've done?
A: I think she would love it. I think she would be very pleased. At the time she was dying, my life was a little bit confused. She wanted me to have a focus in my life and for me to commit to something. I think she would say, "Keep going."
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