Imagine for a moment you’re a 20-something-year-old woman standing in the shower doing your monthly self-breast exam like your doctor has suggested. You’re a healthy young woman, you try to eat right, exercise and take care of yourself.
While doing the exam, to your sheer horror, you feel a lump that wasn’t there before. Are you aware that small numbers of young women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year?
I don’t know any women who look forward to aging or the health problems they face as they get older. Let’s face it, no one likes to be poked, prodded or have a certain body part smashed annually to screen for cancer.
Once a woman turns 40, doctors recommend they start getting regular mammogram screenings to check-up on the health of their “girls.” While breast cancer campaigns target the 40 and older woman, younger women should be aware of the fact that, although rare, young women can develop breast cancer early in life.
Women who are 50 and older are obviously at higher risks than younger women. In 2009, in America, more than 192,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed. That’s averages out to a whopping 526 cases each day. You ask why is this information important to a young woman?
Well, 5 percent of women are diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40. Why is this so? Simply put, a gene mutation is to blame. BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, more specifically, are the culprits that cause breast cancer in young women.
According to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, women who carry BRCA1 are 60 to 90 percent more likely to get breast cancer. Women who are carriers of BRCA 2 are at a 30 to 85 percent higher risk of getting breast cancer than women who don’t carry the gene mutation. Every woman has these genes. Generally speaking, it’s rare that they mutate.
So, what should a young woman do? First of all, you should be familiar with your body so that you can spot any irregularities or sudden changes in the breast. Secondly, if you should notice anything out of the ordinary, see your doctor as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, breast cancer is often found in younger woman at the advance stages of the disease due to the fact that mammograms are not an effective screening test. The disease spreads faster in younger women because they have denser breast tissue, which makes it difficult to diagnose, according to facts reported on Komen’s Web site.
Lastly, if you are concerned, or have a family history of breast cancer or cervical cancer, you might want to speak with your doctor. A blood test can be done to confirm whether or not you are a carrier for BRCA 1 or BRCA 2.
The blood test isn’t to test for cancer; its purpose is to inform you of potential to be at risk. WebMD reports “genetic testing before and after the test is important in order to help patients understand the risks, benefits and possible outcomes of the test.”
Remember, while breast cancer is rare in young women, it affects a small percentage. It’s important that young women have a clinical breast exam at least every three years beginning at the age of 20. Early detection and effective treatment offer the best defense against breast cancer mortality.
Sheena Curry is a senior journalism major and a contributing writer for the Daily 49er.