Study Finds Concerning Rise in Invasive Breast Cancer Among Younger Women
Data from seven outpatient facilities in the New York region found that 20%–24% of all breast cancers diagnosed over an 11-year period occurred in women ages 18–49, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Study Highlights:
- Women ages 18–49 accounted for 20%–24% of all breast cancers diagnosed from 2014–2024 at a large community imaging practice in New York.
- Among 1,799 breast cancers diagnosed in women ages 18–49, 80.7% were invasive.
- Breast cancer in younger women is not rare, and when it occurs, it is often more serious.
“This research shows that a significant proportion of cancers are diagnosed in women under 40, a group for whom there are no screening guidelines at this time,” said Stamatia Destounis, M.D., radiologist at Elizabeth Wende Breast Care (EWBC) in Rochester, New York. “Consideration must be given by physicians caring for women in this age group to performing risk assessment in order to identify those who may benefit from more intensive screening due to being higher risk.”
Dr. Destounis and Andrea L. Arieno, B.S., evaluated cancers diagnosed from 2014–2024 across a community practice spanning seven outpatient facilities over a 200-mile radius in Western New York, using clinical imaging reports and excluding non-primary breast cancers. “We specifically collected details on how the cancer was found (screening or diagnostic), the type of cancer and other tumor characteristics,” Dr. Destounis said.
Overall, 1,799 breast cancers were diagnosed in 1,290 women ages 18–49, with annual diagnoses ranging from 145 to 196 and a mean age at diagnosis of 42.6 years (range 23–49). Of these, 41% (731) were detected on screening and 59% (1,068) on diagnostic evaluation. Most were invasive (80.7% [1,451]), with 19.3% (347) non-invasive.
“Most of these cancers were invasive, meaning they could spread beyond the breast, and many were aggressive types—especially in women under 40,” Dr. Destounis said. “Some were ‘triple-negative,’ a form of breast cancer that is harder to treat because it doesn’t respond to common hormone-based therapies. We can’t rely only on age alone to decide who should be screened,” she added. “Paying closer attention to personal and family history, and possibly screening earlier for some women, could help detect these cancers sooner.”
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