Breast Cancer Under Forty

Imagine finding a lump in your breast when you are only twenty-eight. You’d probably be a little nervous, but after your family doctor suggests it is not uncommon for women to develop lumps in their breasts in conjunction with their menstrual cycle you might be reassured. But what if your doctor was wrong? Now imagine you are sitting in the examination room of the oncologist’s office waiting to hear the results of a biopsy of that lump in your breast. Right about now you might imagine hearing the words, “you have breast cancer,” only you’re not imagining it because it’s true.

Breast cancer is a frightening disease. Not only does it threaten a woman’s survival, but it can also diminish self-esteem, sexuality, and spirit. Being diagnosed with this disease is devastating enough, but imagine hearing you have it when you are only in your twenties or thirties. The stereotypical understanding of breast cancer is that it predominantly afflicts older, post-menopausal women. In other words, our grandmothers might be at risk for developing breast cancer, but we’re not. Be advised, though, breast cancer does not discriminate based on age. In fact, it is projected that an estimated 11,000 women under the age of forty will be diagnosed with breast cancer during the course of a year (YSC, 2004). Unfortunately, the medical community still treats the incidence of breast cancer in young women as a rarity, and research on the specifics of the disease as it pertains to younger women is virtually nonexistent. Until the medical community becomes more proactive in this area, it is vital that women increase their own awareness and understanding of the disease. The focus of this article is to inform and educate younger women about the realities of breast cancer.