Students have a lot to be aware of in October: midterms, football, the latest concerts, the upcoming holidays. Breast cancer doesn’t make the list for most college-aged women.
A 2023 study in BMC Women’s Health, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on womens’ and girls’ health issues, said younger women think of breast cancer as an older woman’s disease, making it “future me’s problem.”
In fact, according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women aged 20 to 24 in the United States.
“About 10% of women with breast cancer are between the ages of 18 and 25 at the time of diagnosis,” said Melissa Kramer, a nurse practitioner with McNeese’s Health Services. “Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. Louisiana ranks fourth in the nation in cancer deaths.”
And younger women are more likely to die from their breast cancer than older women, according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, making this an issue for now.
The foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to funding breast cancer research, said breast cancer incidence in younger women is still low, with a rate of 49 women in every 100,000 in 2019, the most recent data available.
According to Stanford Medicine, there is no single cause for cancer but several contributing factors. These may be genetic, environmental, or related to individual health characteristics.
Diet may be an important and contributing factor to preventing cancer. Excessive consumption of highly processed foods, red meats, fried snacks, and sugary drinks has been linked to higher inflammation and hormone changes that may contribute to breast cancer risk. The American Cancer Society recommends limiting processed meats (like deli meat, bacon, and sausage) and red meats while emphasizing fish, beans, and lean poultry instead.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 5 to 10 % of breast cancer cases are linked to inherited genetic mutations such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, genes that produce proteins responsible for repairing damaged DNA.
The important thing, Kramer said, is awareness.
“While your personal and family history influences your risk of developing the disease, there are some things you can do to decrease your overall risk,” Kramer said. “Maintain a healthy and active lifestyle, maintain a healthy weight, limit alcohol intake, and practice routine breast self-awareness. The best advice I can give is to have a conversation with your healthcare provider about your specific risk factors and how you might mitigate those risks.”
