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Evaluated breast cancer is increasingly affecting younger women
Breast cancer is widespread in women. Among all cancers, this type of cancer kills most women. The victims are getting younger and younger. New research has found that one out of ten younger women show the first signs of breast cancer if they are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the mammary gland in humans. Especially women are endangered by this disease. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the Western world. New research from Breast Cancer Care has shown that one in ten younger women are already showing signs of breast cancer when they are pregnant or nursing.
Breast cancer increasingly affects younger pregnant women (Image: SENTELLO / Fotolia.com)Women get children later, so there are more cancers in pregnant women
Breast cancer is a dangerous disease especially for women, which often leads to the death of those affected. The likelihood of breast cancer increases with age. However, the number of under-45s with breast cancer also seems to be increasing, say physicians. Because many women delay their pregnancy, for example, to make a career, the number of breast cancers in pregnant women or later in breastfeeding, the experts add. The average age of newborn mothers is now 30.2 years. In 1970 this value was still around 26.2 years.
Many women find signs of cancer during their pregnancy
The new study looked at 496 women who were 45 years old or younger. The subjects had suffered from breast cancer and the clinicians were trying to determine when the first signs of the cancer had appeared. One in ten women discovered the first signs of illness during their pregnancy or lactation, the scientists explain. More than a third of women underwent treatment when their child was five years old or younger. Half of the women who had small children during their diagnosis felt that they were so severely weakened by the treatment that their child's health care suffered, explains the doctors. The biggest fear for 66 percent of mothers was not seeing their children grow up.
Cancer risk continues to increase in older women
Each year, about 50,000 women are diagnosed with such disease in the UK alone. The risk of cancer is highly age-dependent. Every eighth woman develops breast cancer during her lifetime. Nearly half of all cases are over the age of 65 or older, say the experts. But one in ten cases affects women under the age of 45. There is a strong increase in the risk of women over the age of 30, the researchers explain. By the age of 29, women have a one in one to 1,950 chance of getting breast cancer. At the age of 39, this probability is already one in 210, and at the age of 49, the odds increase to one in 48, the researchers add.
Pregnant women with breast cancer need more support
If you have a young family, breast cancer diagnosis is devastating, explains Samia al Qadhi of Breast Cancer Care. Many mothers then feel they are missing out on valuable time with their children because they often go to the hospital for treatment or with crippling side effects do have. The lost time will never be recovered or caught up. Breast cancer diagnosis during pregnancy or shortly after birth may cause some women to find it difficult to connect to their baby, the experts explain. The guilt feelings can be very big and some women feel as if nobody can help them. That is why support from such women is crucial. Younger women diagnosed with breast cancer need our support and referral to a specialist, if the condition was diagnosed during pregnancy, the researchers add.