Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2025

Together, Mrs. Lauder and Dr. Norton envisioned a new nonprofit that was uniquely dedicated to research. Three decades later, BCRF remains steadfastly focused on the same mission and stands as the largest private funder of breast cancer research—and metastatic/stage 4 breast cancer research—in the world.

Since our founding, BCRF investigators have been involved in every major breakthrough in breast cancer research, and we’ve pushed the field forward, faster. Research is the reason that breast cancer mortality has declined by 43 percent since 1989, that early-stage survival rates are the highest they’ve ever been, and that there are more than four million people alive today who are thriving after hearing the words, “You have breast cancer.”

BCRF recognizes that Breast Cancer Awareness Month means different things to different people—and that, especially for the metastatic breast cancer community and people who are in treatment, it can be a difficult time. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a reminder, too, that we lose more than 40,000 people to the disease each year, and many are waiting on research to deliver advancements in detection and care.

That’s why breast cancer patients, thrivers, and their loved ones are at the center of BCRF’s mission in October—and every day of the year. This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, help us save lives by uniting around transformative research.