Although breast cancer is usually associated with women over 50, women much younger are dying from this disease more and more. The truth is that it does not select victims by age. So what are the main factors in the development of breast cancer at a young age and who may be at risk of it?
In early September 2022, Britain was shocked by the news of the death of singer Sarah Harding. This artist, more widely known in Poland, died of breast cancer at the age of 39. This started a discussion that breast cancer is also increasingly affecting women under 40-45 years of age.
According to the adopted definition , young female breast cancer patients are women diagnosed before the age of 40 . On the other hand, those diagnosed before their 35th birthday are considered to be very young.
According to the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), an average of 255,000 people are diagnosed in the US each year. new cases of breast cancer in women (and 2,300 in men) - 9% of this number are women under the age of 40. In Poland, breast cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm in women - it accounts for approx. 23 percent. all cancer cases.
What types of breast cancer do younger women have?
Breast cancer in women under 40 often has a more aggressive coursethan in older women. This is related not only to the fact that it is usually diagnosed in a much more advanced state - in this age group the more dangerous, more malignant types of breast cancer are more common: triple-negative cancer and cancer with overexpression of HER2 (this abbreviation stands for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) - that is, when there are too many HER2 receptors on the surface of cancer cells.
Risk factors for breast cancer at a young age
Risk factors for developing breast cancer at an early age are very similar to those of the general population. They include:
- young age of the onset of menstruation (before the age of 12).
- use of oral contraception
- first pregnancy after 30
- small number of children
- breastfeeding
- a family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer- falling ill in the immediate family
- mutations in BRCA1 / 2 genes predisposing to disease - they are more often found in young patients
- prior treatment with radiotherapy - women who have undergone radiotherapy to the chest or breast before the age of 30 (e.g. due to treatment for Hodgin's lymphoma) are at risk of breast cancer.
So far, it is not clear whether obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer at a young age - reports on this topic are inconclusive. This is known to be a risk factor for older women, but there are studies showing that high BMI in younger women is not related to the risk of breast cancer, and reports that young women (unlike menopause), high BMI can even be protective.