Breast cancer research stamp
Encyclopedia
The Breast Cancer Research Stamp (BCRS) is a semi-postal non-denominated
Non-denominated postage
Non-denominated postage is postage intended to meet a certain postage rate that retains full validity for that intended postage rate even after the rate is increased. It does not show a monetary value, or denomination, on the face. In many English speaking countries, it is called non-value...

 postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

 issued by the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

, priced in 2010 as eleven cents higher than the standard first-class letter rate. The surplus above the price of the first-class stamp is collected by the United States Postal Service (USPS) and allocated to the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

 (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD) for breast cancer research. If a person used this stamp exclusively, and mailed one letter per day for a year, the resulting donation would amount to US $40.

Originally created in 1997, Congress has reauthorized the Breast Cancer Research Stamp several times. The original sponsors for the bill were United States Senators Feinstein (D-CA), Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY), and Lauch Faircloth (R-NC), and United States Representatives Vic Fazio (D-CA) and Susan Molinari (R-NY). Breast cancer survivor and advocate, Betsy Mullen, breast cancer surgeon, Ernie Bodai and breast cancer advocate David Goodman who lost his first wife to breast cancer, spearheaded the grassroots advocacy efforts in partnership with Senator Feinstein and her colleagues that led to the creation and issuance of this historic stamp designed to save lives.

The hugely successful Breast Cancer Research Stamp is an example of conscientious consumption in cause marketing
Cause marketing
Cause marketing or cause-related marketing refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a "for profit" business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. The term is sometimes used more broadly and generally to refer to any type of marketing effort for social and...

, in which a person substitutes buying and consuming along with a tiny donation, for making a more significant donation.

History and description

In 1996, the United States Postal Service Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp (the pink ribbon
Pink ribbon
The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer....

 stamp) was published and did not sell well.

The Breast Cancer Research Stamp was the idea of Ernie Bodai, MD, a breast surgeon. Dr. Bodai is a Kaiser Permanente surgeon who performs lumpectomies
Lumpectomy
Lumpectomy is a common surgical procedure designed to remove a discrete lump, usually a benign tumor or breast cancer, from an affected man or woman's breast...

 and mastectomies
Mastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...

 on women with breast cancer. Betsy Mullen is a breast cancer survivor and advocate, the Founder of WIN Against Breast Cancer and the Breast Buddy Breast Care Program. Dr. Bodai, Betsy Mullen and David Goodman spent their money and time lobbying for Congress' approval of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp. Dr. Bodai later began a nonprofit organization, Cure Breast Cancer Inc., to raise money to bring attention to the BCR Stamp and the breast cancer cause.

In 1995, in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Treasury, Postal Subcommittee New York Congressman Michael Forbes attached language to the annual spending bill mandating a Breast Cancer Research Stamp be created by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Proceeds above the cost of the semipostal (fundraising) stamp were to be dedicated to breast cancer research.

In 1998, United States Senators Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....

, Alfonse D'Amato
Al D'Amato
Alfonse Marcello "Al" D'Amato is an American lawyer and former New York politician. A Republican, he served as United States Senator from New York from 1981 to 1999.-Early life and family:...

, and Lauch Faircloth
Lauch Faircloth
Duncan McLauchlin "Lauch" Faircloth , served one term as a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.Before his Senate service, Faircloth was a prominent and wealthy hog farmer...

 and Congressman Vic Fazio
Victor H. Fazio
Victor Herbert Fazio, Jr. usually known as Vic Fazio is a former Democratic congressman from California.-Early life:...

 sponsored legislation in the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 to create a stamp where a portion of the proceeds of sale would go toward breast cancer research, creating the Breast Cancer Research Stamp. The legislation mandated that 70% of funds raised would go to the National Cancer Institute
National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...

 (NCI) and 30% would go to the Breast Cancer Research Program of the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 (DOD).

Art director Ethel Kessler, of Bethesda, Maryland, herself a breast cancer survivor, was asked by the USPS to design the new stamp. Kessler contacted illustrator Whitney Sherman of Baltimore to create the artwork for the stamp. Directing the project, with feedback from a postal design advisory board, Kessler discussed themes with Sherman that the stamp should depict, such as strength and courage, and to show an ethnically-vague woman. It was Sherman who came up with the solution of using Artemis
Artemis
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...

, the Greek goddess of the hunt, protector of women, to symbolize the fight against breast cancer. The female hunter is depicted reaching for an arrow, to symbolize that she protects women from harm and to mimic the position women take during a breast exam. Sherman's illustration is a black line drawing of the female figure on a vibrant, abstract color field, done in pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....

, which gives the stamp its optimistic or uplifting feel. Typographically, Kessler featured the phrases, "Fund the Fight" and "Find a Cure" outlining where the right breast should be.

On July 29, 1998, the Breast Cancer Research Stamp was issued at a White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 event hosted by the First Lady Hillary Clinton with Postmaster General William Henderson, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Congressman Vic Fazio and Betsy Mullen.

The stamp originally cost 40 cents; a regular first-class stamp cost 34 cents at that time. 70 percent of funds raised are donated to the National Cancer Institute and 30 percent to the Breast Cancer Research Program of the Department of Defense. As of May 2006, US$35.2 million had been donated to the NCI and the Department of Defense had collected US$15.1 million.

United States Senators Dianne Feinstein, Alfonse D'Amato and New York Congressman Vic Fazio who championed the Breast Cancer Research Stamp in Congress, calls the reauthorization of the BCR Stamp "good news in the fight against breast cancer." Originally set for a limited run, its release was extended numerous times by acts of the U.S. Congress with the most recent reauthorization legislation going through December 31, 2011.

Since the Breast Cancer Research Stamp first went on sale on July 29, 1998 through November 2010, the United States Postal Service has sold more than 903 million stamps, raising approximately $72 million for breast cancer research at the NIH and DoD. The Breast Cancer Research Stamp currently costs 55 cents and is deemed valid as a 44-cent first-class stamp. The additional 11-cents charged for each semipostal (fundraising) stamp is directed to research programs at the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

, which receives 70 percent of the net proceeds, and the Department of Defense breast cancer research programs, which receive the remaining 30 percent of the net proceeds.

The Breast Cancer Research Stamp is offered through the United States Postal Service as an alternative to a first-class postage stamp. Purchasing the stamp is a convenient and voluntary way to contribute to the fight against breast cancer. Congress passed "The Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act of 1997" and the BCR Stamp was first issued on July 29, 1998, becoming the country’s first fundraising stamp. Congress has reauthorized the sale of the stamp through December 31, 2011. Efforts are currently under way (as of January 2011) to secure reauthorization legislation to be approved by Congress and the President of the United States in order to keep the Breast Cancer Research Stamp on the market.

Programs supported

The funds generated by the Breast Cancer research Stamp have gone to researchers making significant advances in breast cancer research and have been used to fund research grants to support new, innovative programs. According to the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

, some of the programs the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has funded with proceeds from the stamp include the following:
  • Insight Awards to Stamp-Out Breast Cancer (2000–2002): Funded high-risk exploration by scientists employed outside the federal government who conduct research at their own institutions. The grants were awarded for a two-year period. NCI awarded 43 grants through this initiative for a total of $9.5 million.
  • Exceptional Opportunities in Breast Cancer Research (2003–2006): Funded well-established research that would not have been funded otherwise. The grants were awarded for a period of four years. NCI awarded 10 grants for a total estimate of $11.6 million.
  • Clinical Trial to Determine Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence (2005): This clinical trial
    Clinical trial
    Clinical trials are a set of procedures in medical research and drug development that are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for health interventions...

     is designed to select lymph node-negative, hormone receptor-positive breast cancers for chemotherapy
    Chemotherapy
    Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....

     treatment according to their risk of recurrence as measured by a test called OncotypeDx. One-time contract award in the amount of $4.5 million.
  • Breast Cancer Pre-Malignancy Program (2006): A comprehensive program in breast cancer pre-malignancy research that includes the areas of prevention, etiology, biology, diagnosis, and molecular epidemiology. A total of $8.1 million dollars will be awarded for the following projects: "Molecular Epidemiology and Biology of Mammographic Density", "Evaluate Different Decision-Making Approaches Used by Women Recruited for Participation in Chemoprevention Trials", "Early Detection of Breast Cancer - Evaluation Strategies to Improve the Accuracy of Mammography Interpretation with the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium Research Resources", "Biology of Breast Pre-Malignancy", "Isolation, Propagation, Characterization and Imaging", and "MRI-Guided Therapy with Target SPIO Carbon Nanostructure".


One of the Congressional research programs managed by the USAMRMC Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) is the Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP). As a result of the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act, the DOD BCRP is one of two designated recipients of revenues from sales of the US Postal Service's Breast Cancer Stamp. The Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act (Public Law 105-41) resulted from the work of advocates for breast cancer research. This legislation led to the United States Postal Service's issuance of a new first-class stamp, the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, that can be purchased on a voluntary basis by the public.

Timeline

Since the Breast Cancer Research Stamp was first offered for sale in 1998 the DOD BCRP has received 30% from the sales of the US Postal Service's first class Breast Cancer Research Stamp (Public Law 105-41, Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act [H.R. 1585]), totalling $16,387,657.27.
  • In July 2000, the "Semipostal Authorization Act" amended the "Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act" legislation by extending the sale of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp for two (2) years through the summer of 2002.

  • The "Breast Cancer Research Stamp Act of 2001" (S. 1256 and H.R. 2725), enacted as part of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 2002 (Public Law 207-67), extended the sale of the "Semipostal Authorization Act" for breast cancer research to December 31, 2003.

  • Public Law 108-199 extended the Breast Cancer Research Stamp authorization through 2005.

  • Most recently, Congress extended the sale of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp to December 31, 2011.

Program accomplishments and outcomes

As Breast Cancer Research Stamp revenues become available to the CDMRP, the funds are applied to Idea Awards under negotiation at the time. In FY07, the stamp funds began funding Synergistic Idea Awards also. The DOD has fully funded 34 BCRP Idea Awards, partially funded 2 other Idea Awards as well as fully funded one Synergistic Idea Award and partially funded 2 others. The BCRP Idea Awards are intended to encourage innovative approaches to breast cancer research and are a backbone of the BCRP's portfolio of awards.

Many of the research projects supported by Breast Cancer Research Stamp funds are studying the changes in breast cells that result in the development of breast cancer from normal breast cells, focusing on understanding how and why breast cancer cells continue to grow and divide. Understanding these changes offers the opportunity to develop new drugs to prevent or treat breast cancer.

Metastasis
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...

 is the spread of tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...

s to distant sites. Several of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp Awards are seeking to develop new drugs to prevent cancer progression and metastasis.

Risk is another approach to the study of breast cancer. Researchers supported by Breast Cancer Research Stamp funds assess risk by examining individuals or groups of people (populations) who are at risk of developing the disease.

The Breast Cancer Research Stamp funds also support two projects using nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...

. The ultimate goal of both projects is to use nanoparticles for the early detection of breast cancer.

Sales

Loganville
Loganville, Georgia
Loganville is a city located mostly in Walton County with a small portion of the city located in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The population was 10,963 at the 2009 census.-Geography:...

, a small town in Georgia, started a campaign to increase sales of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp called "Contract to Cure Cancer". This campaign succeeded in making the Loganville post office the number one seller per capita of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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