October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Please show your support.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/yv50590a1d.jpg[/atsimg]

As some of you already know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This thread was written for just that purpose. It begins with some information as to what breast cancer is, some common types, a few little known facts, and some statistics, with links to more information. Following the information, you will find some avatars, backgrounds, and signature images (which is why it is in this forum) in order to show your support and spread awareness. There is no charge for these images nor are you being asked to donate to the Breast Cancer Cause in order to use the images, you are simply being given options to help spread awareness should you choose to.

Please, look through the images and select the one(s) you want and we can help you to apply them if need be. Any artist that desires to add to this collection of awareness image options, Please feel free to add them to the thread.

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer, in Women, in the United States, next to skin cancer. It can occur in both Men and Women, but is far more common in Women. Public support has helped improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Such factors as earlier detection, new treatments and a better understanding of the disease have raised survival and the number of deaths has been declining.

There are different types of breast cancer and what type depends on which cells, in the breast, turn into cancer and it can start in different areas of the breast, like the milk ducts or the lobes. The most common types of breast cancer are described as follows:

• Ductal carcinoma, the most common type of breast cancer, begins in the cells that line the milk ducts within the breast.

o Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The cancer cells are only in the lining of the milk ducts without spreading to other tissues in the breast.

o Invasive ductal carcinoma is when the cancer has spread beyond the breast tissue.



• Lobular carcinoma begins in the milk producing lobes, or lobules, of the breast.

o Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). The cancer is found only in the breast lobules and does not spread to other tissues.

o Invasive lobular carcinoma is when the cancer has spread beyond the lobules.


There are other less common types of breast cancer, such as Paget's disease or inflammatory breast cancer. Please visit Inflammatory Breast Cancer and Paget Disease of the Breast for more information on these types.

Male Breast Cancer

A small amount of non-milk producing breast tissue is found directly behind the nipple on the chest wall. Like in women, cancer can grow in this breast tissue. As a young person develops, the hormones decide what happens to this tissue. A Female will produce estrogen which causes breast development. The ducts begin to grow and milk glands develop at the ends of these ducts. Fat and connective tissues increase as they reach puberty. Males produce testosterone, which in most cases, suppresses the development of breasts and the ducts do not grow, therefore, glands do not develop as a result leaving undeveloped ducts and a small amount of connective tissue and fat just behind the nipple. Male breast cancer accounts for only about 1% of all breast cancers. Although the condition can develop in men of any age most cases of male breast cancer are found in men between the ages of 60 and 70. A man's lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.

Risk Factors

Many factors come into play according to breast cancer research but please keep in mind that some people develop cancer that are not within the risk factors as well as those that are within may not develop cancer at all. The following are the most common factors as found here.



Factors that are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer include:
• Being female
• Increasing age.
• A personal history of breast cancer
• A family history of breast cancer.
• Inherited genes that increase cancer risk.
• Radiation exposure.
• Obesity.
• Beginning your period at a younger age.
• Beginning menopause at an older age.
• Having your first child at an older age.
• Postmenopausal hormone therapy.
• Drinking alcohol.
Other risk factors that have been suggested, but don't play any role in the development of breast cancer include tight fitting bras, antiperspirants, breast implants and shift work.





Signs and symptoms of breast cancer may include:
• A breast lump or thickening that feels different from the surrounding tissue
• Bloody discharge from the nipple
• Change in the size or shape of a breast
• Changes to the skin over the breast, such as dimpling
• Inverted nipple
• Peeling, scaling or flaking of the nipple or breast skin
• Redness or pitting of the skin over your breast, like the skin of an orange

Source:Mayo Clinic

U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics

About 1 in 8 U.S. women (just under 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
• In 2011, an estimated 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 57,650 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
• About 2,140 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2011. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.

For the continuation of these statistics please visit BREASTCANCER.ORG

Further Reading:

BREASTCANCER.ORG
CDC
MedicineNet.com
National Cancer Institute

This concludes the awareness portion of this thread. You will find Avatars, Backgrounds, and Images for your Signature line in the posts from here on out. Please, scroll through this entire thread as new images may be added by different artists at different times. If you would like something special or alterations on an image you have chosen, please visit Avatar Creations

Here is the beginning collection of support images for use. More images may be added by artists as time goes by, so if you do not see anything you like please check back or visit Avatar Creations to request something specific, someone there would be happy to help you with your idea. If you would like help putting one in place or are looking for a normal Avatar, Background, or Signature Image, please visit Avatar Creations to make your request. I apologize for posting them on top of each other but I found that putting them in as thumbnails distorted the images.

Mini-Background

Standard Avatars

Transparent Avatars

Signature Images

My grandma survived this many years ago.. I was either a baby or not born yet so I don't remember it. But anyway thanks for sharing, I choose one of the images for my signature.

Also, if anyone is a WWE fan, they are donating 100% of profits to breast cancer research (on the John Cena breast cancer shirt/hat)

shop.wwe.com... campaign=RiseAboveCancer_20120916

reply to post by Agarta


Awesome Agarta. You've outdone yourself...again. For a worthy cause.

Thank You...

Des

reply to post by Agarta


Thank you, Agarta! A wonderful thread that I hope is read by many and saved for future reference.

I'm transferring these to this thread so they may be used by those who desire. They are raw images so they will have to be adjusted as necessary

reply to post by Agarta


Very worthy cause and one that is very close to home for me.

I'll be sporting this signature till the end of October and don one of your new avatars from Oct 1st as well.

I am thinking of posting in pink font every now and again during October as well (a pink border would be good too)

Once again, totally awesome work mate.

reply to post by Agarta


Awesome! This is a very worthy cause. Keep up the good work!

Always a worthy cause, but every other month is breast cancer awareness month. Where's the month for colon cancer? Ball cancer?

reply to post by usernameconspiracy

Calendar of Cancer Awareness Months

January

• Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

February

• National Cancer Prevention Month

March

• Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
• National Kidney Cancer Awareness Month

April

• Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month
• Testicular Cancer Awareness Month
• Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month

May

• Brain Cancer Awareness Month
• Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month

June

• National Cancer Survivors Day
• Sarcoma Awareness Week

July

• Bladder Cancer Awareness Month

September

• Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
• Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month
• Leukemia Awareness Month
• Lymphoma Awareness Month
• Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month
• Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
• Thyroid Cancer Awareness Week
• Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

October

• Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• Liver Cancer Awareness Month

November

• Lung Cancer Awareness Month
• National Family Caregivers Month
• Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
• Stomach Cancer Awareness Month

Choose Hope

J

I would like to thank everyone for their kind words and support.


reply to post by usernameconspiracy

Always a worthy cause, but every other month is breast cancer awareness month. Where's the month for colon cancer? Ball cancer?

Very good question. Below you will find a list of months and their cancer awareness. I have color coded them to the color or colors that are associated with them.

January

Cervical Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

February

National Cancer Prevention Month

March

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
National Kidney Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

April

[color=#900020]Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
[color=orchid]Testicular Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
[color=#CCCCFF]Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

May

[color=#808080]Brain Cancer Awareness Month www.nlm.nih.gov...
Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month www.skincancer.org...

June

National Cancer Survivors Day (First Sunday in June)
Sarcoma Awareness Week (Third week in June) www.cancer.gov...

July

[color=#B57D29]Bladder Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

September

[color=#D4A017]Childhood Cancer Awareness Month www.cancer.gov...
[color=#ECC5A8]Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month www.cdc.gov...
Leukemia Awareness Month www.mayoclinic.com...
Lymphoma Awareness Month www.emedicinehealth.com...
[color=#900020]Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
Thyroid Cancer Awareness Week www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
[color=#C0D9D9]Prostate Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

October

Breast Cancer Awareness Month
[color=#006000]Liver Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

November

Lung Cancer Awareness Month (clear and white) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
[color=#CCCCFF]Stomach Cancer Awareness Month www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Edit to add: I see LadyJae has beaten me to the post

Great thread. I appreciate the information.

I have an idea for an avatar that I think may be kind of cool but would need help making it. The bee avatar is what made me think of it.

Could someone make a ladybug out of the ribbon body and add some dots in the center? I don't know if I'm explaining it right but the bottom of the ribbon would be the antenna of the ladybug and the loop would be the body. I think that would be pretty.

Um, not sure if you are aware of this but cancer is curable

Here are a few links

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.thecrowhouse.com...

As a recent breast cancer survivor, I thank you for this wonderful thread. My last course of chemo will be at the end of the month.

If anyone has cancer or knows someone who has cancer and needs to talk, please U2U me and I will lend an ear and support.

It has been a very long and scary and challenging year for me and I know there are other ATS members who are dealing with or have dealt with breast cancer here as well.

I have found that in dealing with cancer, it's as though you have to be a warrior, fighting against it with courage and hope. Even in dealing with life in general sometimes. That is one of the reasons I have the avatar that I do. I do not know anything about the artist or if the avatar is a character from some game or book, but she seems to be a warrior which is why I chose her. Plus, I used to have hair like hers.

reply to post by Night Star


May your courage, determination, and strength be an inspiration to us all in dealing with cancer or everyday life.

i often wonder why so many of these cancer groups exist, and compete with each other for public charity

why isnt there just a single cancer org that collects all and dishes out funding based on levels of fatalities?

oh i know.. because anyone can start a foundation and collect monies on a "not for profit" basis, while still taking a kick arse wage from the donations...

I will be checking as many as is humanly possible. Can you post some pictures as to what I should be looking at? I and I’m sure many others would really, really appreciate it.
Oh by the way, I could have sworn this was testicular cancer month. You don’t think they put breasts and testicular awareness on top of each other do you?

reply to post by D1Useek


Hello, D1Useek

This article will guide you through the regular check for symptoms

How To Self-Check for Breast Cancer

This article contains a wealth of information on breast cancer: from self-checking for symptoms to checking an actual symptom

Check a Breast Cancer Symptom

By the way, April is Testicular Cancer Awareness Month. Agarta's post just above us contains a list of each Awareness month as well as links to more information.

J

Well, get ready to flame me... What follows is not politically correct. But I gather that's one of the purposes of ATS. A place for those that don't buy the party line.

I'll support "awareness" when Koman and all the others who profit off of this thinkbeforeyoupink.org... start telling the truth about breast cancer. That is, that most can be prevented by being vitamin D3 repleat. That is, have a D3 level of at least 50ng/ml.

www.grassrootshealth.net...

That, and getting enough iodine in the diet. Breasts are one of the biggest users of iodine. And for males, it's the prostate.

Iodine has been practically eliminated from our diet. Used to you could get it in bread, 100mcg's worth in every slice. Then the powers that be decided that it wan't good for us, and they replaced it with bromine. Bromine (along with chlorine and fluoride) are halides. Iodine is a halide. So those toxic substances (bromine, chlorine and fluoride) compete for receptor sites. So what little iodine you might get can't do much good because the chlorine in and fluoride in our water take up those sites.
In Japan they get an average of 12.5mg of iodine a day from the seaweed that's commonly eaten over there. They have the longest lifespan of any modern country, in spite of the Japanese smoking like chimneys. Here, our all-knowing government says to get just a few micrograms of iodine a day! Gee, it's almost like they want us to get sick.

I've had it with "awareness". I get it. I'm aware. We're ALL aware.

How about PREVENTION?

Get your vitamin D level up. And don't just take a few pills. Get your level measured (you can actually do it on line) and then start supplementing to get your level up.

But preventing breast cancer will never catch on. There's no money in it.

Let's use Breast cancer month to educate on prevention. At the very least, get your D3 level up.