Finding out in your teens or 20s that you have breast cancer may disrupt school, college, early work life or relationships. It can leave you feeling isolated from others your age and wondering if anyone like you is going through the same thing.
As a young adult woman with breast cancer, your challenges and needs are distinct, even from those of “older” young women.
Only about 1% of all breast cancers happen in women younger than 30 years old, yet it is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women of that age group.
Some factors increase breast cancer risk in teen and young adult women.
Family history is a strong influence in young women’s diagnoses. Your risk is greater if you have a mother, father, grandmother, sister, brother, aunt or uncle who was diagnosed with breast cancer. A diagnosis in a first-degree blood relative (parent, sibling, child) increases your risk more than history in other close relatives.
In addition,
Talk with a genetic counselor to understand the impact of your personal family health history on your risk of getting breast cancer. Find out more in LBBC’s Guide to Understanding Genetics and Family Risk Assessment (PDF).
Other risk factors:
Disease characteristics that can affect very young women include:
Some young women say the hardest part of receiving a breast cancer diagnosis is telling their mothers and fathers. They worry about the distress their parents will feel on hearing the news.
Often with good intentions, some parents rush in to take over managing care. Others may be less intrusive, helping at medical appointments or with babysitting, cooking and errands. For very young women living on their own, or independent but living at home, it can be difficult to feel dependent on parents again, even for a short time.
Siblings can be strong supports, but long-standing conflicts may create problems. Extended family members, such as cousins, might provide help with less emotional intensity. Friends or acquaintances sometimes act like extended family, especially for young women who live far from relatives.
Going through diagnosis and the demands and side effects of treatment may strengthen a relationship with a steady or live-in partner, or spouse. The stresses also can cause that relationship to end.
Women who are very young when diagnosed with breast cancer may have added psychosocial concerns, including:
LBBC’s Breast Cancer Helpline at (888) 753-LBBC (5222) can connect you with a young woman who faced a situation similar to yours and who understands. Helpline volunteers offer peer support, information and hope.
resources, stories, and more
Our Young with breast cancer section brings you news, personal stories, breast cancer information, expert advice and other resources created specifically for anyone diagnosed before the age of 45.
This article was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number DP11-1111 from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sign up to receive emotional support, medical insight, personal stories, and more, delivered to your inbox weekly.
Reviewed and updated: January 23, 2014
Reviewed by: Carey Anders, MD
Tagged:
Living Beyond Breast Cancer is a national nonprofit organization that seeks to create a world that understands there is more than one way to have breast cancer. To fulfill its mission of providing trusted information and a community of support to those impacted by the disease, Living Beyond Breast Cancer offers on-demand emotional, practical, and evidence-based content. For over 30 years, the organization has remained committed to creating a culture of acceptance — where sharing the diversity of the lived experience of breast cancer fosters self-advocacy and hope. For more information, learn more about our programs and services.
