Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women.

On Thursday, October 27, 2011, the U.S. Postal Service and James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville Hospital held a media conference to unveil the new breast cancer awareness stamp. The event was held in the Garden of Hope at the Brown Cancer Center.

The nation’s first semi-annual postal stamp has raised $73.5 million for breast cancer research since it was first issued in 1998. It was the first stamp dedicated to raising funds for a special cause. The breast cancer stamp costs 55-cents, with 11-cents going to research.

Alisa Zanetti, Kentuckiana District Marketing Manager, USPS, was the emcee for the event, which included remarks by Dr. Donald Miller, Director, James Graham Brown Cancer Center; Dr. Anthony Dragun, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Breast Cancer Program, JGBCC; Mary Connell, cancer survivor, JGBCC; Susan Banks, cancer survivor, JGBCC; and Shelly Souders, West Paducah Postmaster and president of the National Association League of Postmasters Kentucky Chapter.

Metro Council Representative David Tandy, District 4 also presented a Mayor’s Proclamation to designate the day as “Official Pink Out Louisville Day.”

The nation’s first semi-annual postal stamp has raised $73.5 million for breast cancer research since it was first issued in 1998. It was the first stamp dedicated to raising funds for a special cause. The breast cancer stamp costs 55-cents, with 11-cents going to research.

Legislation to reauthorize the stamp has been passed by Congress six times. The stamp is currently authorized to run through the end of 2011; Senators Diane Feinstein and Kay Bailey Hutchison have re-introduced legislation to extend the authorization of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp for four additional years – until 2015.

About The James Graham Brown Cancer Center

About The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is a key component of the University of Louisville’s Health Sciences Center and UofL Health Care.  As the region’s leading academic, research, and teaching medical center, our patients benefit from the latest medical advances, often long before they become available in non-teaching settings.  The Brown Cancer Center is affiliated with the Kentucky Cancer Program and the National Cancer Institute.  The Center is making great strides with an aggressive plan to become a National Cancer Institute Designated Cancer Center.  It is the only cancer center in the region to use a unified approach to cancer care, with multidisciplinary teams of physicians working together to guide patients through diagnosis, treatment and recovery.  For more information, visit our website www.browncancercenter.org.

About the U.S. Postal Service

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

# # #