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Young Women with Cancer by Christina Couch
Though cancers prevalent in women (breast, ovarian and cervical cancers) are typically thought to only affect the middle-aged and elderly, young survivors like Asha prove that female cancers are a threat to women of all ages—including the young, the healthy and those without a strong family history of cancer. In fact, despite a much lower chance of having a tumor, young women
may be more at risk than their older counterparts because doctors and
young patients rarely expect symptoms to be a sign of cancer. When women
under 35 are diagnosed, their cancer is usually at a more advanced stage
than older women, making their treatments more invasive and lowering
the chance of survival. The silver lining is that with education and
early detection, breast and gynecological cancers can be treated early
on, in some cases before cells become cancerous. Here’s a breakdown
of what you can do to prevent three of the most common cancers among
young women. Asha was 23 when she found a lump in her breast. She didn’t receive her diagnosis until a year later, because the doctor she saw during her initial visit told her that breast lumps were not uncommon in young women and that she shouldn’t worry about it. As months passed, Asha’s lump did not go away, so she returned for a mammogram that came back inconclusive. From there, Asha had a breast ultrasound and eventually a biopsy which proved that the lump was, in fact, breast cancer. “It was completely shocking,” she says. “In one second, your entire life changes and the problem was I had known [the lump] had been around a year and I almost knew it had spread. I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to be dead soon.’” Asha’s diagnosis story isn’t uncommon. According to Dr. Diane B. Wilson, co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control program in Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, Virginia, breast cancer in young women is oftentimes overlooked by both doctors and mammogram tests. “Unless they’re in a high-risk family, women under 40 are not recommended to have a mammogram and even if they do, it’s harder to detect anything abnormal,” says Dr. Wilson. “Breast self exams have not been associated with lowering mortality rates of cancer, but we do find that a lot of women detect their own lumps.” Because breast tissue in young women is firmer than in those over 40, finding tissue abnormalities and diagnosing them as cancerous is more of a challenge. The younger the patient is, the more likely a mammogram will come back as inconclusive. The Young Survival Coalition, a nonprofit agency dedicated to supporting
young women with breast cancer, reports that there are currently more
than 250,000 women under 40 in the United States living with the disease.
This year, more than 11,000 young women will be diagnosed with breast
cancer and, of them, one out of every eleven will die. Being cognizant of one’s own body may be the best preventative measure women have against breast cancer. In addition to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and having yearly physicals starting at age 20, a breast self-exam is recommended every month. Ovarian Cancer “In a primary care office, ovarian cancer is not the first thing
that goes through their minds when a woman has abdominal complaints,” says
Dr. Weldon Chafe, professor of obstetrics and oncology at Virginia Commonwealth
University. “If a younger woman has some of these symptoms, she
probably is the one that is going to have to say to the physician, ‘Could
this possibly be ovarian cancer?’” “I watched my grandmother, my mother and my aunt all battle this horrible cancer,” says Dana. “I thought if it could happen to me, I wouldn’t be 21-years-old, I would be a little bit older.” Because her cancer was caught before it reached advanced stages, she was able to skip chemo entirely and treat her cancer with a pill to limit cell growth, an increased dose of birth control pills and frequent ovarian exams. In cases like Dana’s, where ovarian cancer is caught before it’s spread to other parts of the body, the chance of survival is more than 90% and the likelihood of undergoing noninvasive treatments increases exponentially. The best way to catch ovarian cancer early is to make sure your annual pap smear includes an internal exam: Don’t be afraid to bring up the “C” word to your general practitioner if you experience any symptoms, and let your general practitioner as well as your gynecologist know if you have any history of ovarian cancer in your family. Cervical Cancer Six years ago, Christine Baze was completely unaware that her doctor was using a nonliquid pap test that was inaccurate up to 50% of the time. Young, married, vegetarian and a nonsmoker, Christine’s profile was the exact opposite of a typical cervical cancer patient’s. But at 31-years-old, Baze was diagnosed with aggressive cervical cancer. “I’m the girl that did everything right,” she says. “My story is one people hear and they go ‘No way.’ That’s why education and empowering women is so important.” Because Christine’s cancer was already in advanced stages, she
had to undergo a hysterectomy, pelvic radiation, four treatments of chemotherapy,
four treatments of internal radiation and macroscopic surgery to remove
part of her fallopian tubes and pelvic lymph nodes. Today Christine is
37, healthy, and is the founder of Pop Smear, a nonprofit organization
that organizes concert benefits to raise money and awareness to fight
cervical cancer. “I am one of the lucky ones that I didn’t
lose my life to this disease, but I will not have children,” she
says. “I have side effects from this disease that still affect
me today. I’m [always] looking over my shoulder and [thinking]
maybe if it came back this time, I wouldn’t be so lucky.” “One of the biggest impediments [to stopping cervical cancer] is just the physical exam itself. I understand that it’s not easy, it’s not pleasant, but the upside for the patient is huge,” says Dr. Charles Levenback, professor of gynecologic oncology at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. “At least half of the women in our country who have had invasive cervical cancer have not had a pap smear in the past five years.” “This is a cancer we can eliminate,” says Christine. “It’s so exciting to think that another woman won’t have to go through what I went through. I feel really optimistic about the future.” Asha, Dana and Christine are just three of the thousands of young women who are shocked by their cancer diagnoses each year. While there’s no surefire way to remove all of your cancer risk factors, you can significantly lower your chances of becoming another statistic. Create a cancer-preventative lifestyle: Eat right, don’t smoke, get in shape, learn your family’s medical history and be your own health advocate when speaking with your doctor. Make these lifestyle changes as soon as you can and stick with them, says Dr. Diane B. Wilson. “The body responds best when we [have] routines for how we eat and exercise. ”
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