Weekend Post

Young Women and Breast Cancer


Young women CAN and DO get breast cancer. While breast cancer in young women accounts for a small percentage of all breast cancer cases, the impact of this disease is widespread: There are more than 250,000 women living in the U.S. who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 40 or under1, and approximately 10,000 young women will be diagnosed in the next year2. But, despite the fact that breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women ages 15 to 543:

* Many young women and their doctors are unaware that they are at risk for breast cancer.
* There is no effective breast cancer screening tool for women 40 and under.
* Young women are often diagnosed at a later stage than their older counterparts.
* There is very little research focused on issues unique to this younger population, such as fertility, pregnancy, genetic predisposition, the impact of hormonal status on the effectiveness of treatment, psycho-social and long-term survivorship issues and higher mortality rates for young women, particularly for African-Americans and Latinas.
* Young women diagnosed with breast cancer often feel isolated and have little contact with peers who can relate to what they are experiencing.
* As the incidence of young women with breast cancer is much lower than in older women, young women are underrepresented in many research studies.

For all these reasons YSC encourages young women to become advocates for their own health and become educated about breast cancer.

On the pages of this website, you will find information and resources for and about young women affected by breast cancer. Click on the navigation bar on the left to:

* Access the bulletin boards and chat rooms to join a community of other young women living with the disease.
* Learn about breast cancer in young women and find informational and support resources, local, national and international, for these women and their families.
* Gain insight into the lives of young women living with the disease through our survivor stories.
* See our real-time profile of young women who register on the site highlighting the demographic and disease characteristics of our survivor constituency.

Breast Cancer is a very serious disease.Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts from cells of the breast. A malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that may grow into (invade) surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. The disease occurs almost entirely in women.