If you have watched a football game, baked a cake, tied your shoes or ventured into the outside world lately you would know that this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. That’s not meant as a criticism, the cause has made great strides in raising awareness, but rather to contrast with something you may not know–this past week was Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week.
Wait, what? Male breast cancer? Yes, despite the fact that the male nipple serve no known purpose, men do have breasts, or more specifically, chests. Male breast cancer is actually more deadly on average than the female variety. Of course that is likely due at least in part to a lack of awareness that this is even a thing.
This little-known disease has had a big impact on the life of Alan Blassberg, an award-winning TV producer, who after watching the battle of several of his family members, decided to get tested himself. Blassberg’s family had a history of BRCA mutation, a severe risk factor or breast cancer, and after his girlfriend had her second recurrence of the disease, Blassberg himself tested positive for the BRCA 2 mutation. What followed was a powerful journey that Blassberg has documented in his upcoming movie Pink & Blue.
Pink & Blue examines the issue of male breast cancer and specifically the BRCA mutation. BRCA is the same mutation that led Angelina Jolie to have a preemptive double mastectomy. BRCA is also found in men and has an extremely high correlation with the development of breast and ovarian cancer. The movie features experts such as Dr. Kristi Funk from the Pink Lotus Breast Center (Angelina Jolie’s surgeon), Dr. Armando Giuliano from Cedars Sinai, and Jon and Mindy Gray — founders of the Basser Center in Philadelphia.
This year over 2500 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S., and more than 400 will die. Within the last month alone, three men from the film have lost their lives to breast cancer.
The movie was funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2013 and is expected to be released in January 2015. You can check out the trailer below or visit the Pink & Blue website or more information.
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