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50 free Breast Cancer Awareness trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
45 free Breast Cancer Awareness trivia questions with answers. Breast Cancer Awareness Month fills October with pink, but the facts behind it are worth knowing all year. This quiz covers the campaign itself (who founded it in 1985, where the pink ribbon came from, Charlotte Haley's peach ribbons, Betty Ford, Susan G. Komen and the debate over 'pinkwashing') and the medicine: how common the disease is, what mammography does and when it is recommended, what BRCA1 and BRCA2 are, how tamoxifen and Herceptin work, and what the evidence says about self-examination. It is written for awareness events, workplace fundraisers, nursing and health classes and anyone who wants the numbers straight. Difficulty runs from very easy to questions on chromosomes and 1913 radiology. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia's medical articles and shows its citation once you have answered. This is a quiz, not medical advice: talk to a doctor about screening and symptoms.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month observed?
October
Walks, runs and pink-lit landmarks mark it around the world.
Q 02Which company's pharmaceutical arm co-founded National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1985?
Imperial Chemical Industries
ICI's drug business became part of AstraZeneca, maker of the breast-cancer drug tamoxifen.
Q 03Before the pink ribbon became standard, Charlotte Haley handed out ribbons of which colour in 1991?
Peach
The 68-year-old Californian, whose sister, daughter and granddaughter had all had breast cancer, wanted more research funding.
Q 04The pink ribbon was formalised in the 1992 Breast Cancer Awareness issue of which magazine?
Self
Evelyn Lauder of Estée Lauder and editor Alexandra Penney drove it, and Estée Lauder counters have since handed out over 70 million ribbons.
Q 05Which charity handed a pink ribbon to every runner in its 1991 New York City race?
Susan G. Komen
Nancy Brinker had founded it in 1982 in memory of her sister, who died at 36.
Q 06Nancy Brinker founded her breast cancer foundation in 1982 in memory of whom?
Her sister
Susan Goodman Komen died of breast cancer in 1980 at the age of 36.
Q 07Susan Goodman Komen, for whom the foundation is named, died of breast cancer in 1980 at what age?
36
The organisation named for her is based in Dallas, Texas.
Q 08Which cosmetics executive founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in 1993, with the pink ribbon as symbol?
Evelyn Lauder
The company has since donated more than $25 million to research.
Q 09Which US sports league is known for putting pink on and off the field every autumn?
The NFL
Critics of such marketing coined the term 'pinkwashing'.
Q 10The term 'pinkwashing' was coined by the group Breast Cancer Action to describe companies that do what?
Sell pink goods while using chemicals tied to the disease
The group argues awareness marketing avoids discussing causes and prevention.
Q 11Which First Lady's openness about her 1974 breast surgery boosted breast cancer awareness?
Betty Ford
Her frankness sent thousands of American women for check-ups.
Q 12Worldwide, breast cancer accounts for roughly what share of all cancers in women?
25%
It is the leading type of cancer in women.
Q 13Roughly how many deaths did breast cancer cause globally in 2020?
685,000
There were about two million new cases in 2018.
Q 14How does the incidence of breast cancer in women compare with that in men?
Q 21About what percentage of breast cancers are 'triple-negative'?
15%
They are harder to treat because hormone therapy and targeted antibody drugs do not work on them.
Q 22Inherited mutations in which two genes greatly raise the risk of breast and ovarian cancer?
BRCA1 and BRCA2
Carriers have roughly five times the normal breast-cancer risk and ten to thirty times the ovarian risk.
Q 23BRCA1 sits on chromosome 17; on which chromosome is BRCA2?
13
Both are tumour-suppressor genes involved in repairing DNA.
Q 24Tamoxifen works by blocking the action of which hormone in breast tissue?
Over 100 times higher
Men account for under one percent of cases, roughly 20,000 a year worldwide.
Q 15Roughly what share of new breast cancers are diagnosed in men?
Less than 1%
Men are diagnosed later on average, at 67 rather than 63.
Q 16What is the most common screening test for breast cancer?
Mammography
It uses low-dose X-rays; 3D tomosynthesis entered clinical trials in 2008.
Q 17Under the USPSTF guidance issued in 2024, biennial mammograms should start at what age?
40
The April 2024 recommendation lowered the starting age from 50 to 40 and runs to age 74.
Q 18Which German surgeon carried out an early X-ray study of 3,000 removed breasts in 1913?
Albert Salomon
Uruguayan radiologist Raul Leborgne added breast compression in the 1950s.
Q 19What is the five-year survival rate for breast cancer in the United States and UK?
Over 90%
Rates are far lower in countries without screening and modern treatment.
Q 20Roughly what proportion of breast cancers are ductal carcinomas, arising in the lining of the milk ducts?
85%
Most of the rest are lobular carcinomas.
Estrogen
Taken for five years, it cuts the risk of breast-cancer death by around 40 percent over the following decade.
Q 25Which chemist first synthesised tamoxifen in 1962, while working on a contraceptive pill project?
Dora Richardson
The compound failed as a contraceptive and became one of the most important cancer drugs in history.
Q 26Trastuzumab, sold as Herceptin, targets breast cancers that over-express which protein?
HER2
HER2 is amplified in 20 to 30 percent of early-stage breast cancers; the drug was approved in the US in September 1998.
Q 27In what year was trastuzumab (Herceptin) approved for use in the United States?
1998
Genentech developed it with UCLA, starting the first trial with 15 women in 1992.
Q 28What is the surgical name for removal of one or both breasts?
Mastectomy
A lumpectomy, or wide local excision, removes only the tumour and a margin of tissue.
Q 29In which year was the radical operation removing breast, underarm nodes and chest muscles first performed?
1882
It was the standard operation for most of a century before breast-conserving surgery took over.
Q 30Breast-conserving surgery that removes just the tumour and a margin of healthy tissue is called what?
Lumpectomy
Patients who have it usually receive radiation to the whole breast afterwards.