Advanced breast cancer rising in young women, finds study

Metastatic cancer is the most dangerous kind, with a less than 30% surviving rate A growing number of young women are being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer compared to three decades ago, a new study has revealed. According to a new study by the University of Washington, one in 173 women will develop breast cancer before they turn 40 and the prognosis tends to be worse for younger patients.
The new study, conducted at Seattle Children's Hospital, found that the rate of metastatic breast cancer rose about two percent each year between 1976 and 2009 among younger women.
"We think that the likelihood is that since this change has been so marked over just a couple of decades, that it's something external, a modifiable lifestyle-related risk factor or perhaps an environmental toxic exposure, but we don't know what," the author of the study, Dr Rebecca Johnson told Reuters.
One possibility is that overeating and lack of exercise are driving up early-life metastatic breast cancer rates, Johnson added. Or, the use of hormonal birth control could play a role, she said.
Johnson and her colleagues analysed data from cancer registries run by the National Cancer Institute.
As expected, they found that the number of early breast cancer diagnoses increased among middle-aged and older women during the study period, likely due to widespread screening.
Metastatic cancer is the most dangerous kind, with less than one-third of women surviving at least five years after diagnosis, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Johnson concluded by urging women to be aware “that cancer can happen at an early age, even if screening isn't recommended.”
"Women need to notice changes in their bodies - breast lumps, feeling bad, and promptly seek medical attention for those. There's a tremendous survival improvement associated with diagnosis before the cancer spreads," she added.