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Get ready for pink-ribbon season! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Now in its 25th year, the event promotes awareness of a disease that strikes one in eight women in their lifetimes. And it’s expected to claim nearly 40,000 lives in the U.S. this year alone.

Efforts to bring attention to the disease and raise money for a cure are ongoing. But some women with breast cancer, as well as survivors are troubled by what they see as exploitation. A growing number charge that companies capitalize on suffering to boost profits. And many regard the proliferation of pink ribbons as a marketing ploy.

We’re joined by Kris Frieswick. Her mother passed away from breast cancer, and her article on the dark side of pink-ribbon marketing will appear in this Sunday’s Boston Globe Magazine. We also talk to Jeanne Sather, a blogger in Seattle who's currently battling metastatic breast cancer and blogs at The Assertive Cancer Patient. She's known in the breast cancer community for her fight against using pink ribbons as a marketing tool, and is leading a "Boycott October" campaign.

"Pink Ribbons, Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy" by Samantha King

Jeanne Sather's blog post debunking the "one in eight" statistic

(Photo by Premier Packaging via Flickr/Creative Commons)