Breast cancer in adolescents and young adults

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer of adolescents and young adult (AYA) women aged 15 to 39 years, accounting for 5.6% of all invasive breast cancer in women. In comparison with older women, AYAs are more likely to have familial cancer predisposition genes, larger breast tumors, unfavorable biological characteristics, distant metastatic disease at diagnosis, and adverse outcome. Endocrine therapy and some chemotherapy recommendations differ between young and older women. AYAs require coordinated multidisciplinary care, treatment regimens that minimize late effects such as premature menopause and osteoporosis, and proactive management of psychological and sexual health during and after cancer treatment.

Keywords: age; breast; neoplasm; pregnancy; young adult.

Figure 1.

Cumulative Proportion of Number of Women with Breast Cancer by Single Year of Age, 2010–2014, SEER18 (upper panel) and Proportion of All Invasive Cancer in Females that is Breast Cancer, by Single Year of Age, 2000–2014, SEER18 (lower panel), by Invasive* and Invasive + In Situ Breast Cancer. *Malignant, according to SEER classification. Data Source: Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database [2]

Figure 2.

Cumulative Proportion of Females Who Developed or Died of Breast Cancer during 2012–2014, SEER18, by Single Year of Age. Data Source: DevCan: Probability of developing or dying of cancer software, Version 6.7.5. [3]

Figure 3.

Incidence of Breast Cancer in Women 15 to 39 Years of Age and 40 Years and Older by Extent of Disease at Diagnosis and 5-Calendar Year Intervals, 1975–2014, SEER9

Figure 4.

Incidence (upper panel) and 5-Year Relative Survival (lower panel) of Women with Invasive Breast Cancer, SEER18, 2000–2014, by Breast Adjusted AJCC6 Stage.

Figure 5.

Death Rate of Breast Cancer in Women, U.S., 2000–2011, by Race/Ethnicity and Age. Source: National Center for Health Statistics. Note: Hispanic may overlap with Black, Asian/PI, Native North American