This year’s Think Before You Pink® campaign “We Can’t Be Pink’d: Say NO to Pink Policies” calls out the lack of leadership from the Trump Administration in truly addressing the breast cancer crisis. We’re demanding action from four federal agencies: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
This week, we’re focusing on the NCI and the agency’s lack of important information about environmental risk factors. Take action: Tell the NCI to give us full information about breast cancer risks, including environmental exposures!
As a leading agency for cancer research, training, and information the NCI is a go-to source for both clinicians and the general public. However, the agency leaves out critical information on environmental links to breast cancer and instead focuses on uncontrollable risk factors such as aging and family history of the disease. The NCI is not telling women the whole story about risks to their health and we see this as a failure to address the breast cancer crisis.
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Tell the NCI we deserve clear information on ways to protect our health!
The NCI patient information page gives a convoluted and incomplete account of breast cancer risk factors. On one line it states, “Avoiding risk factors and increasing protective factors may help prevent cancer.” Immediately after, it lists immutable breast cancer risk factors including “aging” and “an inherited risk of breast cancer.” Aging is simply unavoidable and family history only accounts for about 10 percent of breast cancer diagnoses. Prioritizing these unchangeable risk factors while downplaying environmental exposures does not do justice for the estimated 300,000 women who will develop breast cancer in 2020.
Even more problematic, the NCI’s breast cancer site currently claims that “it is not clear” whether the environment affects breast cancer risk. However, large-scale systemic changes, including addressing environmental toxins and corporate pollution, are the most effective form of true prevention in addressing the root causes of breast cancer. The NCI’s failure to acknowledge the growing body of research and evidence that clearly demonstrates this fact and addresses environmental risk factors is not only misleading, it also hinders how other cancer organizations, practitioners, and people living with the disease understand and address breast cancer.
Take action to demand the NCI provide information on environmental links to breast cancer! It’s time for the NCI to tell women the full story about the environmental links to breast cancer. Otherwise, the NCI will continue to set false national standards that deny the importance of environmental risk factors.
Join us in saying no to pink policies. Tell the NCI to give us information on all modifiable risk factors, including environmental exposures!
In Solidarity,
Tibby Reas Hinderlie
Communications Associate
P.S. Stay tuned for next week’s action when we’ll be calling out the Department of Justice! Action launches Monday, October 26.
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