Deadliest Cancers Getting Fewest Donations

Canadians' donations are much more likely to end up supporting awareness for breast cancer than less survivable types of the disease.

The most fatal forms of cancer receive a pittance in charitable donations compared to breast cancer, an analysis of Canadian charities concludes. Pancreatic, stomach, lung, and colorectal cancer victims comprise nearly half of all who die due to the disease in Canada, yet breast cancer, with a nearly 90 per cent five-year survival rate, reaps in 151 times more donations than those four combined when measured in dollars per potential years of life lost. Breast cancer awareness has become a “success story," with better screening and treatment helping to boost survival rates. The study's authors say charities for the more deadly forms of cancer ought to highlight that each dollar given to them would have a much greater impact than if donated elsewhere.