It’s a sad fact that these days, nearly everyone knows someone who’s had breast cancer. Yet there’s one fact not everyone knows: approximately 30 percent of people with early-stage breast cancer who’ve “beaten” the disease will eventually see it return as stage IV, also known as advanced or metastatic breast cancer (MBC). That means breast cancer has spread to other parts of the body, and it’s a diagnosis that carries an average life expectancy of just 24 to 36 months. MBC is the only form of breast cancer that kills. Yet while MBC claims the lives of 117 people in the U.S. daily (“like an airplane falling from the sky every single day”) and more than 670,000 people worldwide each year, less than 13 percent of global breast cancer research funds go toward researching new treatments for MBC.
A new take on the pink ribbon
Those shocking statistics explain why more and more people are embracing a reimagined breast-cancer-awareness ribbon that thinks beyond pink. Created in 1992 by Alexandra Penney, then editor-in-chief of Self magazine, as part of the brand’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month initiative, the instantly recognizable pink breast cancer ribbon is closely associated with early detection and celebrating survivors—but there’s no surviving MBC, just buying time via treatment. Thus, a tricolor ribbon for metastatic breast cancer aims to raise awareness about the need to direct funding toward the development of life-extending treatments. In this ribbon, designed and trademarked by the MBC nonprofit Metavivor, green represents the triumph of spring over winter, life over death; teal symbolizes healing and spirituality; and a thin pink-ribbon overlay signifies cancer that originated in the breast. In recent years, the distinctive color palette has become more widely recognized and used, including on apparel and accessories that raise money for MBC research, like the popular Faith Over Fear bracelet from Little Words Project.
Why do people not know that 85 percent of people with breast cancer have NO family history?
A game-changing fundraiser
One inspiring initiative that’s helped the MBC ribbon go mainstream is an annual event that shines a light on its colors and its cause—quite literally and beautifully. During #LightUpMBC, more than 270 iconic landmarks around the world illuminate in teal, green, and pink. Sites range from soaring skyscrapers like New York City’s One World Trade Center to natural wonders like Niagara Falls and span 176 cities in all 50 states and beyond.
On Monday, October 13 (National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day), participants can find a local landmark to visit. Then, at 8:00 p.m. ET./5:00 p.m. PT, they can tune in to #LightUpMBC LIVE, a livestream event featuring inspiring MBC stories told from illuminated landmarks around the globe. This year, co-host/producer Tami Eagle Bowling—a motivational speaker and 10-year stage IV MBC thriver—will be joined by Gina Naomi Baez, an actress, singer-songwriter, and three-time cancer survivor who is currently developing Abril, a Broadway-bound musical inspired by her cancer journey. The livestream will feature powerful musical performances from Broadway stars Ann Hampton Callaway, Kara Lindsay, Mamie Parris, and Steven Grant Douglas; music from Grammy-award winning, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame artist Bootsy Collins and soul singer songwriter Jess Lamb; and a duet by pop star Em Beihold and e.woolf. #LightUpMBC Live will also raise awareness about the latest MBC developments while raising funds to support groundbreaking research—100 percent of net proceeds go to METAvivor (you can see some of the research grants the event has funded here).
The best way to experience #LightUpMBC 2025, according to its hosts, is by dual-viewing it: Stream it live to your smart TV via Metavivor’s YouTube channel but also follow the Metavivor Facebook Live broadcast on your phone or laptop (with the sound off). This way, you’ll get the full visual impact of the stunning, lit-up landmarks but can also read viewer comments and interact with others who care about the MBC cause. Another easy option: This year, you can also tune in live right here on Glamour.com.
A loss that launched a movement
The original spark for #LightUpMBC came from Laura Inahara, a New Hampshire woman who lost her best friend, Jessica Moore, to metastatic breast cancer. A varsity girls’ basketball coach, Moore had gotten elbowed in the breast while playing the game one day, and the resulting pain kept lingering. As a nurse, she knew her injury should be healing more quickly. After she visited doctors to get checked out, she found out she had metastatic breast cancer—meaning the disease had already progressed and spread to her bones, despite her having no other symptoms. She was only 32. She fought the disease for four years, passing away at age 36. “Prior to Jessica’s passing, she said she thought it would be amazing to light a landmark for MBC as a way to raise awareness,” says Inahara, who founded #LightUpMBC in her friend’s honor. In October 2017, five months after Moore died, the first landmark to light as part of #LightUpMBC was the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, near Jessica’s hometown.
A working mom by day, Inahara began sitting down each night to work on expanding #LightUpMBC. Later she met Tami Eagle Bowling, who developed the idea for a live broadcast that would greatly expand the event’s fundraising reach. “I created #LightUpMBC Live as a platform for people to see the landmarks lighting in solidarity around the world and hear stories directly from families affected by MBC.” Bowling says. Together, Inahara and Bowling have formed a volunteer leadership and ambassador team bound by a shared passion and unwavering drive to make a difference in the lives of those impacted by MBC.
The annual event has raised over $2 million from the past few years and continues to be a major source of donations where 100 percent of net proceeds benefit METAvivor, with a goal of funding research treatments that could turn stage IV breast cancer from a deadly disease into a survivable one. “METAvivor remains the only US organization dedicated to awarding annual grants solely into stage IV breast cancer through a scientific and patient advocate review process,” Inahara explains. “That is what it will take to find a cure and stop losing more than 670,000 lives to breast cancer each year globally. We feel certain that with more research funding, no more of our friends will have to die from this disease—our mission is to give the MBC community more time with their loved ones by shining a light on the most advanced stage of breast cancer. There is often a misconception there is a cure for breast cancer, and we want to share with anyone who will listen that there is not.”
Visit Metavivor to get involved in public awareness and advocacy campaigns, fundraising, and more.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Learn more about women living with metastatic breast cancer and their loved ones here:
- 7 Questions to Ask Your Doctor If You’re Diagnosed With Metastatic Breast Cancer
- My Life in Pictures: Before, During, and After a Metastatic Breast Cancer Diagnosis
- How to Talk to Your Kids About Your Metastatic Breast Cancer Diagnosis
