The British association for the support of women with breast cancerBreast cancer care, surveyed 500 women aged 45 and under with breast cancer and found that for one in ten young women, the disease was discovered during their pregnancy or when they were breastfeeding their baby. An increasing number with an estimated 5,600 new cases of breast cancer each year in this age group.
This survey was carried out on the occasion of the 10th European Conference on Breast Cancer to be held in Amsterdam from March 9-11.
Of the 500 young women questioned, more than a third (39%) received treatment when their child was under 5 years old. For more than half (53%), the main difficulty of treatment is that it did not allow them to properly care for their toddler. And for 66% of them, their main fear was not to see their child grow up.
One risk in 310 between 30 and 39 years old
Breast cancer is strongly related to age, with more than half of cases occurring after 65 years. Younger women, under 29, have one in 1950 risk of developing breast cancer, then it climbs to one in 210 risk between 30 and 39 years old and one in 48 risk between 40 and 49 years old.
According to Breast cancer care, the increasing number of breast cancers in young women is also linked to the decline in the age of childbearing. “The later women have a child, the more they have a risk of developing breast cancer” said Samia al Qadhi, general manager of the association. “However, a diagnosis of breast cancer during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth can cause difficulties in bonding with the young child. This is why we urge oncology units to refer young patients to associations support if they are diagnosed during pregnancy “ concludes the director.
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