Age doesn’t matter when it comes to breast cancer. That’s according to the latest statistics from the American Cancer Society. Thanks to better screening and more effective treatments, the death rate among patients has decreased 44 percent since 1989.
Yet in more recent years, the incidence of breast cancer has risen in women younger than 50, with the steepest increases in Asian American and Pacific Islander women.
Doctors say the trend may lead to a shift in screening guidelines which currently call for annual mammograms beginning at age 40.
Dr. Morta Lapkus is a Breast Surgical Oncologist Endeavor Health.
“The cause is not known yet, people think environmental factors, genetic factors, we’re not sure. And there is still a lot of study to be done,” she said. “The average age of breast cancer diagnosis is still 60s, around there. But these outliers are the ones sticking in your mind because they are so young, in their 30s and 40s. a patient in their 40s is not as uncommon anymore as it used to be. … If someone feels something they should get it checked out. The next step after that is imaging, a mammogram or ultrasound, and that can show us some of the characteristics of the lump the person feels. If it appears abnormal, they may then go for biopsy, and that’s how the cancer can be found.”
Finding cancer early is the key to saving lives.
Cancer grows and spreads but removing it at the initial stages, spares patients more invasive treatment.