At the University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center, we use awareness months and days to highlight and honor our patients – both past and present – that have fought these cancers, as well as educate about warning signs, new treatments, clinical trials, prevention methods, and support options.
Our goal is to increase knowledge on all cancers, whether it is lung cancer that is estimated to kill 1,290 people in Colorado in 2021 or cervical cancer that is expected to kill 50 people, and every cancer in between.
Increasing awareness is just one of many efforts the CU Cancer Center is doing to put an end to the 1.9 million Americans who are diagnosed with cancer every year.
When it comes to lighting up the Fitzsimons building, as much as we would like to light it up all the time, we have to remember the history of this building that opened in 1941. At the time it was the largest medical facility in the state. The history also means it has an older light system that has to be manually changed.
There are seven occasions the CU Cancer Center will light up the building this year to represent the most deadly cancers in Colorado, as well as, joining in on two national lighting events – World Cancer Day and Blood Cancer Awareness Month.
|
Awareness Day or Month |
Color |
Date |
|
World Cancer Day |
Blue and Orange |
February 4 |
|
Colorectum |
Blue |
Mach 1 – 7 |
|
Prostate |
Blue |
September 6 - 12 |
|
Blood |
Red |
September 13 - 19 |
|
Breast |
Pink |
October 11 – 17 |
|
Liver |
Green |
October 18 - 24 |
|
Pancreas |
Purple |
November 15 -21 |
We connect with the community in multiple ways, two primary ways are our social media pages and our blog. While we do a push for specific awareness months you will find helpful information all year round on these platforms.
Between our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages we have more than 20,000 follows. Through these pages, we share statistics, research, and much more.
Another way the CU Cancer Center is sharing information with our community is through our blogs, like the one you are reading now. These are a mix of research highlights, patient stories, general cancer information, and celebrity cancer news.
On top of the CU Cancer Center experts sharing information in the blogs they also are frequently highlighted in local and national news platforms to increase knowledge about different advancements in cancer.
Another effort we use to spread awareness is by sharing patients’ stories from our doctors. We love to highlight the hard cases that a second option made a difference or a clinical trial that gave someone more time or the Multidisciplinary program that allowed all specialists to come together to give them the best treatment plan. You will find these stories in the CU Cancer Center blog.