Women in their prime of their lives have revealed their shock at being diagnosed with a cancer rising quickly in young females.
Incidence of breast cancer is rising at twice the rate in under 50s as it is in people over 50, a trend believed to be linked to an overall rise in early-onset cancers.
Bianca Carter of Connecticut was 29 when she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2017, triggering a series of brutal surgeries that robbed her of the chance to have a big family.
Meanwhile, Maria Costa was just 33 when she was diagnosed with invasive stage three breast cancer in 2022 after a year of asking for a mammogram.
She now worries she will no longer be able to get married and start a family after being placed in medically induced menopause.
Bianca Carter (pictured here) was just 29 when she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. The mother-of-one has since undergone eight surgeries, 40 rounds of radiation, and 10 rounds of chemotherapy
Maria Costa (pictured here during treatment), 35, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer after a year of asking for a mammogram. She now fears she will be unable to date or have children
And Mariana Robbins of South Carolina found out she had breast cancer after her first mammogram last year at age 40.
Though her cancer was diagnosed at stage one, she lives in constant fear it will return and leave her unable to watch her four-year-old son grow up.
Though the cause is largely unclear, experts have suggested the rise in breast cancers in young people may be partly due to changes in reproductive habits such as having children later and starting menstruation earlier.
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In response to rising breast cancer rates, the US Preventive Services Task Force in April lowered the recommended screening age from 50 to 40.
The agency predicted that this move could prevent 1.3 cases of breast cancer death per 1,000 women over a lifetime of screening.
However, this still excludes women in their 20s and 30s.
And because women in these age groups are historically at such low risk of the disease, many women say their early symptoms are ignored.
When Mrs Carter sought medical help after spotting a lump in her breast, doctors initially refused screening and insisted that the lump wasn’t there.
She told Good Morning America that she had to be ‘really persistent’ before the team would finally relent and give her an ultrasound and mammogram.
Despite having no family history, Mrs Carter was diagnosed with stage three invasive ductal carcinoma, which makes up about eight in 10 breast cancers.
While the survival rate for this form of cancer is nearly 100 percent in early stages, it drops to as low as 31 percent when it spreads to lymph nodes and surrounding organs.
Within just nine months of her diagnosis, Mrs Carter underwent eight surgeries, including a double mastectomy and full hysterectomy, along with 40 rounds of radiation and 10 rounds of chemotherapy.
Now, she and her husband can no longer have the big family they dreamed about due to the hysterectomy and hormone treatments, which she will remain on for at least five more years.
Mrs Carter said: ‘Just as a woman, you’re almost stripped away from that femininity. You’re stripped from your breasts and your female reproductive system…It’s not what it used to be.’
Mrs Carter – pictured with her husband, son, and their dog – said that her cancer required her to have a hysterectomy, robbing her of the chance to have a big family
Ms Costa asked her gynecologist in 2021 for a mammogram due to both her mom and aunt being diagnosed with breast cancer. A year later, even as her doctor felt a lump in her breast, she was told she was still too young.
But shortly after she finally got a mammogram, Ms Costa was diagnosed with stage three invasive lobular carcinoma, a rare, slow-growing breast cancer that starts in the breast’s milk-producing glands.
This form makes up about one in 10 breast cancers, according to nonprofit Breastcancer.org. Similar to invasive ductal carcinoma, the survival rate is nearly 100 percent in early stages, though it can drop to as low as 22 percent after spreading.
Ms Costa, now 35, told Good Morning America: ‘I had to fight for doctors to listen to me, and if I was diagnosed in 2021, my journey could have been different. I’ve had a extreme difficult journey since I was diagnosed.’
She was placed in medically induced menopause, which helps lower levels of hormones like estrogen that can increase the risk of cancer spreading or returning.
Additionally, she said that multiple surgeries have left her chest looking deformed, and reconstructive surgery is on hold.
Ms Costa said: ‘On bad days, I’m like, “I’m bald and I don’t have a chest.” How do I explain that? If I want to date, how do I have this conversation?’
Ms Robbins, who is now 41, was diagnosed with stage one invasive breast cancer last year. It’s unclear which specific form she has, but invasive breast cancer includes invasive ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma, inflammatory breast cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer.
She had just undergone her first mammogram.
Though she was diagnosed at an early stage, treatment still left Ms Robbins with severe side effects, including nerve pain.
She said: ‘The recovery is difficult. It was about three or four months and you can’t use your arms, you can’t do anything.’
Ms Robbins has completed all treatment and shows no signs of cancer, though she is left with anxiety that she will never see her son grow up.
The above graph indicates how breast cancer rates have risen by one percent every year across all age groups but slightly faster among women under 50 years old
‘There’s always that fear, no matter what,’ she said. ‘I’ve been cleared. I have no sign of disease at this point, which is amazing, and I’m so grateful, but that fear is always there, and I’m told that kind of stays with you forever.’
About 310,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, the American Cancer Society estimates. And around 42,000 will die.
