Breast Cancer and Women Under 40
Although the percentage of women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40 is much lower (only about 7%) than the overall rates of diagnosis, sadly, these cancers are often not found in their early stages and can prove to be much harder to treat. One reason these early onset cancers are more difficult to diagnosis is because the breast tissue of younger women is generally more dense than that of women over the age of 40. There is also sometimes a “denial” aspect to the early diagnosis of breast cancer in younger women. It seems that many younger women ignore some of the early warning signs, unknowingly believing that they are too young to have cancer. For these reasons, diagnosis is often not made in the early stages of the disease (when treatment is much more likely to be successful), but rather in later stages that often prove to be more difficult to treat successfully.
In recent years the guidelines for when a woman should have their first mammogram has fluctuated quite a bit, making it even more confusing for young women to make informed decisions about their personal breast health. Below are some guidelines that young women can use in screening for breast cancer.
