The rates of life-threatening breast cancer are spiking among women of all ages, with a significant increase in those under 40.
A new study found that cases of metastatic breast cancer — in which breast cancer cells have spread from the local area of the breast to another site of the body — increased by 3% from 2004 to 2021 among patients aged 20 to 39.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among US women after skin cancer. About 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
Though breast cancer starts in a localized part of the breast tissue, it can spread to other areas of the body, significantly decreasing rates of survival.
Survival rates among breast cancer patients whose cancer is detected before it spreads are high, between 86% and 89%. Yet if the cancer is detected after the cancer cells have migrated, that number drops to 31%.
Researchers and radiologists from the American College of Radiology analyzed breast cancer diagnoses from the 17-year period of 2004 to 2021. The team focused on patients with aggressive breast cancer that had metastasized.
In patients 20 to 39, diagnoses rose nearly three percent from 2004 to 2021, compared to just a 1.4% rise among women in their 70s.
“It’s important to understand that these women presented with distant (metastatic or Stage 4) breast cancer at the time of diagnosis,” Dr. Debra Monticciolo, co-author of the study and former president of the American College of Radiology, said.
“Women with this diagnosis have a much lower survival rate and are much harder to treat.”
While the study found metastatic breast cancer rates rose markedly in young women, similar rates were found in middle-aged women.
From 2004 to 2012, cases in patients 40 to 74 increased 2% per year and from 2018 to 2021, there was a 2.7% increase per year.
Monticciolo and her team called the results of the study “alarming.” They noted that due to the pandemic’s effect on diagnosis, their findings are likely only partially reflect the deadly picture.
Female patients who are diagnosed before 40 are 39% more likely to die from breast cancer than those who are diagnosed after 40. In addition to late-stage diagnosis, this younger demographic is more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive forms of breast cancer such as triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-Positive breast cancer.
Further, mutations on BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are more common in young women, and these mutations increase cancer risk by as much as 84%. Six percent of all breast cancer patients carry BRCA gene mutations; however, in patients under 45, roughly 12% carry the gene.
The findings of this latest study are in grim alignment with the growing trend of rising cancer rates among young people.
A study published in JAMA Network Open last year found that cancer diagnosis rates in thirtysomethings jumped almost 20% between 2010 and 2019, with most of the increase occurring in women.
More troubling is that these diagnoses tend to be made in the later stages, limiting the success of treatment.
For average-risk women, i.e., those without a family history of breast cancer, federal guidelines recommend a yearly mammogram beginning at age 40.
However, as this recent research suggests, these guidelines may be insufficient for women who are not fully aware of their risk factors or who erroneously believe they are too young to develop breast cancer.
It’s unclear exactly why there’s an uptick in younger breast cancer diagnoses.
Dr. Cindy Cen, a breast surgeon at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Lake Success, said there are probably several reasons, including poor lifestyle choices.
“Diet, exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, alcohol intake all factor into breast cancer risk,” Cen, who was not involved with the new research, previously told The Post.
Researchers predict more than 310,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer in US women and 2,790 cases in men will be diagnosed this year.
About 42,250 women and 530 men are expected to die from the disease this year.
More bad news for breasts? Recent reports found that men working or living around Ground Zero have developed breast cancer at 90 times the national average.
