Two women in their thirties were diagnosed with breast cancer after being told their symptoms were ‘nothing’ – a tragic tale becoming increasingly common in the US.
Laura Hernandez, a 39-year-old journalist in New York City, quickly sought help from her gynecologist when she felt a small lump under her left armpit.
However, her doctor assured her it was ‘nothing’ due to her age but ordered a mammogram to be safe. The results came back as breast cancer, which affects more than 300,000 American women every year.
Julieta Cruz, 36, a hair and makeup artist in Florida, was feeding her baby when she felt a ‘little ball’ in her breast.
Her doctor insisted it was due to hormones or accumulated milk, so Ms Cruz spent the next three months asking for a mammogram.
A specialist said it was either a cyst or fibrosis – thickened or scarred tissue – and a genetic test came back negative for cancer risk.
Julieta Cruz, 36, had to pretend to be in severe pain to get a checkup after spending three months asking doctors to perform a mammogram
Laura Hernandez, 39, was told her cancer was ‘nothing’ due to being young and healthy
After another three weeks, she pretended she was in severe pain to get another exam. A biopsy confirmed stage 1 breast cancer.
‘This is happening to all of us, it is happening to us when we’re very young, and it’s happening to Latinas,’ Ms Hernandez told Spanish-language site Noticias Telemundo.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in both the US and the world. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates there will be more than 300,000 new cases this year, along with 43,700 deaths.
According to the American Cancer Society, the average age when women are diagnosed with breast cancer is 62. For Latinas, it’s age 57.
‘A very small number of women diagnosed with breast cancer are younger than 45,’ the agency states.
Death rates have plummeted 43 percent between 1989 and 2020, after successful public health awareness campaigns, better screening and new drugs.
Today, nine in 10 patients are expected to survive after five years.
In May, a leading health panel recommended the age at which women undergo regular breast screening be dropped from 50 to 40, amid a rise in younger people developing the disease.
In August, a study found that certain types of cancer, including breast cancer, are being diagnosed more often in young people, particularly young women in their 30s.
Checking your breasts should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes. Simply rub and feel from top to bottom, feel in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to feel for any abnormalities
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) said an extra 20 million women in their forties would benefit from a mammogram every two years.
Currently, all women aged 50 to 74 are advised to get checked via a mammogram – a low-energy X-ray of their breasts – every two years.
Ms Hernandez had a lumpectomy, which removed the cancer and abnormal tissues. Her cancer is now in remission.
Ms Cruz underwent a double mastectomy, a procedure in which both breasts are removed entirely, to ‘eliminate the problem at its roots.’
The hair and makeup artist also lost her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes due to treatments.
‘Suddenly losing that and looking in the mirror and not recognizing yourself, it’s hard, right?’ she told Noticias Telemundo.
‘You have to start from within.’
Ms Cruz shows no signs of cancer, though she gets blood tests every six months and will take maintenance medication for 10 years.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?
What is breast cancer?
It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called ‘invasive’. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.
Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.
What causes breast cancer?
A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.
Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
- Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
- Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.
If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.
How is breast cancer treated?
Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.
- Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
- Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
- Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
- Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.
How successful is treatment?
The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.
The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000
