This nation’s all-out war on breast cancer has fought and won many battles in recent years. 2025 data from the American Cancer Society, National Breast Cancer Foundation and the Ohio Department of Health clearly illustrate as much:

● The breast cancer mortality rate has fallen a whopping 22% since 1989, which translates into 518,000 fewer deaths annually.

● Advances in effective treatment abound. Notably, 3D-mammography technology now provides more detailed analyses of breast tissues and has proved more effective in detecting cancer much earlier.

● Funding for breast cancer research and services continues to soar. The Lancet recently reported that the annual global total has hit $5.3 billion, much of it through private community fundraisers, such as the ever-popular Panerathon in the Mahoning Valley that has raised and contributed $6 million to the cause.

Though such strides are indeed hopeful and encouraging, that significant progress clearly has been insufficient. Consider these facts from the same sources:

● An estimated 42,170 American women will die from breast cancer in 2025.

● The national breast cancer incidence rate has been creeping upward slowly in recent years, particularly among women under 50.

● Significant disparities linger in breast cancer incidence and treatment with black women enduring far higher mortality rates and more aggressive forms of cancer.

Given those and other challenges, Breast Cancer Awareness Month that begins today could not be more relevant or more necessary.

Here in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, we can take great pride in the overwhelming and compassionate commitment to raise awareness, to expand treatment opportunities and to increase the ranks of America’s 4 million breast cancer survivors this month — and every month.

According to the ODH 2025 Cancer Report, the Mahoning Valley is bucking national trends with slightly decreasing rates of cancer incidence in recent years. What’s more, breast cancer mortality rates in Trumbull and Mahoning counties today rank among the lowest in the state.

One reason behind those impressive findings may be found on the North Side of Youngstown. There, the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center stands as the crown jewel of the long-term commitment of this community to slay the breast-cancer beast once and for all. In its 14 years of service, the state-of-the-art treatment facility has saved countless lives and serves as a global model for effective breast cancer care.

But this pink-ribbon month of awareness extends far beyond support for Joanie Abdu. Many groups in the community have embraced the awareness campaign. Businesses, nonprofit charities and college organizations have united behind the bold pink banner.

Among some of the local awareness month observances here include the Pink Out Mahoning Valley 2025 concert, set for noon to 9 p.m. Sunday in Austintown Township Park, at which the acclaimed Vindys will make a special appearance; the Junior League’s 31st Annual Pink Ribbon Tea to honor breast cancer survivors at 11 a.m. Oct. 13 at Waypoint 4180 in Canfield; and a mixer / fundraiser at Aqua Pazzo in Boardman 6 p.m. Oct. 22 sponsored by the Mahoning Valley Young Professionals Club at which self-care goodies, blankets, socks and tote bags will be collected to give to a local cancer care center.

To be sure, Breast Cancer Awareness Month has grown in volume and in passion since first observed 33 years ago when Self magazine editor Alexandra Penney first used a pink ribbon to draw attention to the cause. But just as in 1992, the mission of the monthlong movement remains clear: The fight to cure the disease must be won.

Breast cancer is a cancer in which cells in the breast tissue divide and grow without normal control. Except for skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. About 1 in 8 women can expect to be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.

In the Mahoning Valley, Ohio and most of the nation, breast cancer ranks second only to lung cancer in scope. In addition, many old wives’ tales surround the disease. That’s why a continued strong outpouring of local activism for education, outreach and research remains critical.

Opportunities abound this month to continue the momentum. For our part, this newspaper adorned its print-edition pages with heaping helpings of pink today. Throughout the month, we will feature story after amazing story on our Health pages of resilient breast cancer survivors in our region.

To those few out there who grumble that coloring October in pink represents one cheesy, tacky and overdone strategy to fight a serious disease, we say baloney.

The strides made over the past three decades prove otherwise. What’s more, if one pink-lighted building, one pink poster or one pink ribbon prompts one high-risk woman of the need to schedule a mammogram, the value of this pink-ribbon month will have more than proved its worth.