The Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp helped fund a landmark study that showed genetic testing can reveal which women with early-stage breast cancer need chemotherapy and which do not.
The National Cancer Institute and several foundations sponsored the study. The initial $4.5 million of the institute’s $36 million contribution came from the stamp proceeds.
“It’s been well spent,” Dinah Singer, who is involved in the institute’s use of the stamp proceeds, told the Associated Press this week.
The Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp was released in 1998 and has been reissued through acts of Congress several times since then. Overall, the stamp has raised more than $86 million for breast cancer research.
Currently, USPS also offers Save Vanishing Species and Alzheimer’s semipostal stamps. A Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder semipostal stamp will be released in 2019.
The Alzheimer’s and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder releases are authorized under a federal law that allows USPS to issue and sell semipostal stamps to advance causes in the national public interest, as the organization deems appropriate. This law is formally known as the Semipostal Authorization Act of 2000.
“The Postal Service is proud to offer semipostal stamps to help advance causes in the national interest,” said Stamp Services Director Mary-Anne Penner.
The Federal Register, a daily journal on government policy and procedures, has guidelines on submitting subjects for semipostal stamps.