An estimated 18,000 walkers participated in a 5-km trek, as part of the American Cancer Society's 11th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk Saturday. Apart from them, more than 2,000 other breast cancer sufferers or non-sufferers contributed to raise funds for programs designed to support breast cancer patients, research, education and advocacy, such as Road to Recovery, an American Cancer Society service program conceived to provide transportation for cancer patients to their treatments and home again.

The non-competitive walk in which breast cancer survivors, their families, friends and supporters participated was 5 kilometers long. They were all dressed in pink shirts, as the pink ribbon is considered worldwide the international symbol for breast cancer.

All participants will try to raise awareness, as well as raise money to help fight against breast cancer, the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer.

No less than $150,000 was raised Saturday. The money will go to nationwide projects such as Hope Lodge, where breast cancer patients seeking treatment can stay while receiving it.

The disease kills about 45,000 women each year in the United States. "Early detection is the key, and no one knows your body like you do," said breast cancer survivor Gerri Taylor. "So, if you think something is wrong, be persistent because the life you save is your own."

An estimated 465,000 women died from breast cancer in 2007 worldwide and 1.3 million new cases were diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society, a nationwide community-based voluntary health organization struggling to eliminate cancer as a main health problem.