Spectrum News 1: Breast Cancer Rates Increasing Among Younger Women
Spectrum News 1 recently interviewed Mary El-Masry, MD, a hematologist-oncologist at Cedars-Sinai, and patient Mataya Dade, 32, about Dade being diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer two years ago amid rising rates of the disease in younger women.
According to the American Cancer Society, Black women, like Dade, are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but they are 38% more likely to die from the disease compared with white women. The organization also predicts more than 316,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2025, increasingly in women under 50.
Receiving a breast cancer diagnosis at 30 surprised Dade.
About two years ago, she felt a painful lump in her breast and went to urgent care for testing. She was diagnosed with stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer. Her treatment included 16 rounds of chemotherapy, nine months of immunotherapy and a double mastectomy.
El-Masry, who treated Dade, told Spectrum News 1 that risk factors for breast cancer include birth control, hormone replacement therapy and genetic mutations. Despite rising rates among younger women, she said, overall breast cancer death rates are decreasing.
“We usually catch patients early if they do their regular screening mammograms,” El-Masry said, noting that guidelines recommend screenings starting at age 40. “But if you have a strong family history or have that genetic mutation, you should actually get screening earlier.”
Since recovering, Dade has launched a podcast to support women her age who are going through the same medical journey.
“The aim is to create a community that is supportive, that isn't sugar coating anything but also isn't living in this heavy weight that chemo can pull you down into,” Dade said.
Watch the complete video and read the complete story from Spectrum News 1.