How young can you get breast cancer?

By: Jasmine Sukumar, M.D.

From: mdanderson.org

While it’s true that your breast cancer risk increases as you get older, in recent years, we’ve seen an increase in breast cancer diagnoses in women younger than 50. Statistics from the American Cancer Society show that from 2012 through 2021, new breast cancer diagnoses in women younger than 50 increased at a faster rate than in women older than 50.

Here, I’ll provide insights as to why we may be seeing this increase, breast cancer symptoms to look out for and what we consider when treating young breast cancer patients.

Can you get breast cancer in your 20s?

You can get breast cancer at any age, even as an adolescent or young adult.

Early-onset breast cancer typically refers to breast cancer that is diagnosed in people younger than 45.

Why is breast cancer in young adults on the rise?

This is something researchers are trying to understand. We have identified some factors that may increase a person’s risk for early-onset breast cancer.

• Inherited genetic mutations: About half of early-onset breast cancers are related to BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Mutations to the PALB2 and TP53 genes can also increase your risk for early-onset breast cancer. However, not all early-onset breast cancers are genetic.
• No full-term pregnancies: The risk for breast cancer increases if a woman has no full-term pregnancies or has their first pregnancy after age 35. Statistically, women are now having fewer children or having them when they’re older. This could influence more early-onset breast cancer diagnoses.
• Family history: Your risk for breast cancer increases if you have a parent, sibling or child with the disease.
• Precancerous breast conditions: Your risk for breast cancer increases if you’ve been diagnosed with certain high-risk breast lesions, such as atypical ductal hyperplasia, atypical lobular hyperplasia, ductal carcinoma in situ or lobular carcinoma in situ.
• Dense breasts: Many young women have dense breast tissue. This means their breasts have more fibrous and glandular tissue than fatty tissue. During a mammogram, breast cancer can hide in that fibrous and glandular tissue. If you have dense breasts, you may need additional screening to detect and diagnose breast cancer.
• Race: Studies show that Black women ages 20 to 39 are more likely to develop breast cancer of any subtype compared to younger women of other racial and ethnic groups.
• Other possible risk factors include hormone therapy use in some instances, alcohol use, excess body weight and obesity and sedentary behavior.
• Researchers are studying whether certain environmental exposures and dietary factors influence breast cancer risk.

Even though more people are being diagnosed with breast cancer, it’s important to know that they’re living longer.

Experts believe this is due to earlier and improved detection strategies as well as treatment advances. The more people are being diagnosed when cancer is in its earlier stages, the more we have improved survival. And many people with metastatic breast cancer are living longer because of new treatments.