Paris (AFP)
Signs that may suggest breast cancer often go unnoticed in young women, because the disease is rather associated with older people, but under 40 still represent 5% of cases, warns the Institut Curie Thursday.
"Breast cancer in young women is a reality that remains relatively unknown to the general public, even health professionals, so the first signs or an unusual size do not necessarily cause concern for these young women," notes l Institute of Care and Research.
In addition, these women are not included in organized screening, which has been focused so far on the most at-risk age group (50-74 years), which makes it all the more important for regular genealogical follow-up.
If the median age of women diagnosed with breast cancer is 63, "nearly 3,000 women diagnosed every year are under 40 years of age" out of a total of 58,500, the Curie Institute says before October Rose, month of awareness of the detection of this disease.
"We must be alert to any anomaly occurring in the breasts, regardless of age", to avoid a delay in diagnosis and care, advises Florence Coussy, gyneco- oncoloque Institut Curie.
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