Pink Ribbon : "Far too little attention is paid to the group of patients with the most severe diagnoses" 

"It's not just Pink. The focus is often on the favorable survival rates and too little on the group of patients with the most severe diagnoses: metastatic breast cancer, triple negative breast cancer and breast cancer at a young age," said Dr. Marleen Finoulst of Pink Ribbon. "A lot of these cases also fall out of the statistics. We get good points in our country when it comes to numbers on detection and diagnosis, but when we look for data on the severe diagnoses, mostly at relapse, unfortunately there is not so much available."

A tough breast cancer diagnosis, tough for patient and those around them 

Those around you have a lot of trouble with metastatic breast cancer. This was already evident from an earlier survey (1) by Pink Ribbon: 56% of 1,000 respondents feel that dying of breast cancer is still a taboo. 'Visitors stay away', 'we get isolated', 'people around us don't know what to say' ... respondents tell us. It increasingly causes loneliness in half of affected families. 75% feel that the disease is presented too rosy. 

"When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, everything was presented quite optimistically," says Jeannin Verstraeten."People assume too quickly that it will resolve itself, while there are so many stories of people relapsing, sometimes a long time after the initial diagnosis. Of course, that keeps me constantly busy, but I find happiness in the moments with my children and grandchildren, and the environment just has to adapt to me further."  

Watch the video of Jeannin

"People are too quick to assume that will resolve itself, when in fact there are so many stories of people relapsing, sometimes a long time after the initial diagnosis."

Een andere zware diagnose is triple negatieve borstkanker. 10% van alle borstkankers behoren tot deze categorie. Ze zijn niet gevoelig voor hormonen en daardoor ook niet voor hormoontherapie, wat de behandelingsmogelijkheden meteen beperkt. Driekwart van alle borstkankers treft vrouwen ouder dan 50 jaar. Een kwart is dus jonger. En triple negatieve borstkanker treft vaker jonge (< 50 jaar) vrouwen. Dit type kanker is doorgaans agressiever dan de meer courante hormoongevoelige borstkanker. Deze kanker zaait snel uit. Er heel snel bij zijn, is hier extra belangrijk. Erfelijke borstkankers, die via een defect gen worden overgeërfd, zijn zelf vaker triple negatief.

"My world completely collapsed when I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer," says Christelle Belle."I mainly drew strength from the fact that I had a 5-year-old son whom I absolutely wanted to be there for as long as possible. I needed to be able to talk a lot about my illness but I also noticed that this was sometimes criticized. It is mainly by being able to talk to other peers that I gained a lot of support and beautiful encounters and friendships." 

Watch the video of Christelle

"My world completely collapsed when I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer."

So sometimes young women with small children, women who are just starting their careers, women who still want children are also affected ... Cancer throws their lives drastically upside down. A hormone-sensitive breast cancer catapults them straight into menopause, with bothersome menopausal symptoms that cannot be treated. Indeed, breast cancer is a contraindication to hormone therapy at menopause.  

"A cancer diagnosis is something very dual," says Chloé Clauwaert. "On the one hand, life goes on straightforwardly but on the other hand, for you personally, everything stands still for a while. You have to find a new way to move forward in this new reality. My breast cancer continues to preoccupy me. I felt something again the other day and then I panic. I regain my peace by thinking of my children in these difficult moments. I am happy then that I am sick and they are healthy. The reverse would be so much worse." 

As part of International Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Pink Ribbon is calling much more attention to people with a severe breast cancer diagnosis. Together with them, we want to break the taboo that still too often rests on the most severe breast cancer diagnoses. We do this with: 

• The launch of the 10th Pink Ribbon ribbon designed by Chloé Clauwaert who herself was severely affected. 

• The distribution of 5 videos featuring the courageous and moving testimonies of breast cancer patients with the most severe diagnoses. 

• And the organization of the first TNBC patients day ("triple negative breast cancer patients day") on November 23, 2024 in Brussels. 

(1) Ivox survey conducted in August 2023 on behalf of Pink Ribbon among 1,000 people who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in their immediate family.