About one-third of money donated to breast-cancer fundraisers in some cases is not funnelled into research, an Ontario study suggests.

Samantha King, a professor in the school of kinesiology and health studies at Queen's University in Kingston, investigated the use of the donations in American breast cancer fundraisers.

King cited some cases where 36 per cent of donated money was funnelled elsewhere.

"The claim is that it covers overhead," King told CBC News on Wednesday.

She said that corporate-sponsored breast cancer fundraising has become a market-driven industry focused less on research and more on profit.

Meanwhile, King noted, there is still a limited range of treatment options for breast cancer, which is estimated to afflict one in nine women in Canada and kill one in 27.

King's book-length manuscript, Pink Ribbons Inc: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, is due to be published in August.

She said corporations began cashing in on breast cancer fundraising around the time the iconic pink ribbon campaign started.

"The fact that corporations were interested in attaching their names to a disease that used to be so stigmatized was really interesting," King told CBC News.

'In small print, it may say the first $100,000 goes to breast cancer research — that's in very small print.' -Antoinette MacDonald, president of Breast Cancer in Action Kingston

As breast cancer became a high-profile cause, more organizations found they could raise money by staging events such as walks, she said.

Many fundraisers will put a cap on the amount of money that will be used for research, but that limit is often not well known, King said.

Antoinette MacDonald, president of the charity Breast Cancer in Action Kingston, said people should investigate how their money will be spent before making a donation.

"In small print, it may say the first $100,000 goes to breast cancer research — that's in very small print," MacDonald said.