UVA specialists weighs in on rise in breast cancer diagnoses among young women
ABLEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, specialists at the University of Virginia (UVA) are urging young women in Virginia to get screened for this deadly disease. According to a recent American Cancer Society study, more women under the age of 50 are being diagnosed with breast cancer. According to UVA Health, for women in this age group, cases increased by about 1% every year between 2012 and 2021. "[This is] certainly something that's alarming," Carrie Rochman, a UVA breast cancer imaging specialist said. Rochman said health experts can't pinpoint the exact cause of this rise, but the medical community continues to look into known contributing factors like obesity and birth rates. "Women are having babies at later ages, you know, for a lot of reasons," Rochman began. "And so this maybe could be part of why we're seeing the increase in young women." The American Cancer Society also shared some positive news in the study -- a sharp decline in the breast cancer death rate among women of all ages. Rochman said significant strides have been made in the fight against breast cancer in recent decades, due in part to pink ribbon movements and the development of 3D mammograms. Maria Reyes-Matos, a surgical oncology post-doctoral fellow at UVA Health, also weighed in on the impact screening technology has played in the ability to detect the disease. "[Cancer] rates are going higher because we're detecting it earlier, faster and with better imaging than we did before," Reyes-Matos said. "So it is a reflection of the change in risk factors and the screening methods." Rochman shared some advice for young women. "Every woman, when she's about age 25... she should have her lifetime risk of breast cancer assessed," Rochman said. Women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, as well as those with a lot of dense breast tissue, could be at higher risk, so Rochman noted that it's important to see a specialist who can track family history. "I think early detection [is] key," Rochman said. "You know, it helps us catch tumors when they're smaller, better prognosis. And then also we don't have to have as extensive of treatment -- less chemotherapy, less harsh treatments when it's caught early and localized." Once a woman knows her risk level, the specialists said the average woman should start getting screened annually around the age of 40. More information about breast cancer screening can be found on UVA Health's website.
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ABLEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, specialists at the University of Virginia (UVA) are urging young women in Virginia to get screened for this deadly disease.
According to a recent American Cancer Society study, more women under the age of 50 are being diagnosed with breast cancer. According to UVA Health, for women in this age group, cases increased by about 1% every year between 2012 and 2021.
"[This is] certainly something that's alarming," Carrie Rochman, a UVA breast cancer imaging specialist said.
Rochman said health experts can't pinpoint the exact cause of this rise, but the medical community continues to look into known contributing factors like obesity and birth rates.
"Women are having babies at later ages, you know, for a lot of reasons," Rochman began. "And so this maybe could be part of why we're seeing the increase in young women."
The American Cancer Society also shared some positive news in the study -- a sharp decline in the breast cancer death rate among women of all ages. Rochman said significant strides have been made in the fight against breast cancer in recent decades, due in part to pink ribbon movements and the development of 3D mammograms.
Maria Reyes-Matos, a surgical oncology post-doctoral fellow at UVA Health, also weighed in on the impact screening technology has played in the ability to detect the disease.
"[Cancer] rates are going higher because we're detecting it earlier, faster and with better imaging than we did before," Reyes-Matos said. "So it is a reflection of the change in risk factors and the screening methods."
Rochman shared some advice for young women.
"Every woman, when she's about age 25... she should have her lifetime risk of breast cancer assessed," Rochman said.
Women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, as well as those with a lot of dense breast tissue, could be at higher risk, so Rochman noted that it's important to see a specialist who can track family history.
"I think early detection [is] key," Rochman said. "You know, it helps us catch tumors when they're smaller, better prognosis. And then also we don't have to have as extensive of treatment -- less chemotherapy, less harsh treatments when it's caught early and localized."
Once a woman knows her risk level, the specialists said the average woman should start getting screened annually around the age of 40. More information about breast cancer screening can be found on UVA Health's website.
