Breast Cancer Is Increasing Among Younger Women. Here’s What to Know.

A new Long Island event is opening up a conversation about breast cancer in younger women. Here’s what an oncology nurse wants women to know about recognizing changes, understanding their risk, and navigating a diagnosis.

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Over the past three years, Jenn Fasano lost three women in the Babes in Business community to breast cancer. All were in their early 30s — much younger 63, the median age of a breast cancer diagnosis in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Then her own cousin was diagnosed.

“I thought, something’s got to give here,” Fasano says. She started thinking about how many women might be walking around with the same assumption she had once had—that breast cancer was something that primarily affected older women.

That concern is the impetus for Beyond the Ribbon: Their Legacy, Our Mission, an upcoming breast cancer awareness event Fasano is organizing with Karla Waldron, executive director of Mondays Cancer Care, an organization that provides free beauty and wellness services for those undergoing cancer treatments.

Rather than another October event centered primarily around fundraising and pink ribbons, they wanted to create a place where women could actually talk about breast cancer, particularly among young women: how to recognize it, what happens after a diagnosis, and how to support someone going through it.

Breast cancer is still much less common in women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s than it is in older women, but Marilyn Olita, DNP, FNP-BC, a Northwell Health oncology nurse who works with breast cancer patients, says she is seeing a slow increase in incidence among younger women.

“It’s hard to pinpoint if this is just better detection that we’re coming across or if it’s environmental factors that we’re being exposed to now,” Olita says. There are also particular challenges when breast cancer occurs earlier in life, including a higher likelihood of certain aggressive biological subtypes such as triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancers.

For younger women, the challenge isn’t just recognizing that breast cancer can happen before the age they might expect. It’s knowing what changes are worth paying attention to, understanding their own risk, and knowing when to push for a closer look. And if a diagnosis does happen, there are questions that go well beyond treatment, from fertility and relationships to navigating work, family, and the emotional weight of being diagnosed earlier in life. Here’s what Olita wants younger women to know.

Know What’s Normal for You

“Younger women don’t think that they’re necessarily at risk because they are younger,” Olita says. “So they overlook those subtle changes in their breasts.” “So they overlook subtle changes in their breasts.” And sometimes there are good reasons to explain those changes: pregnancy, breastfeeding, hormonal fluctuations, cysts, and other benign conditions can all change the way breasts look and feel. But Olita says that doesn't mean a new or persistent change should simply be written off. “We try not to dismiss any changes in our practice,” she says.

That is particularly important during pregnancy and breastfeeding, when changes in breast tissue can make a new symptom harder to distinguish. Olita says women can mistake a change for increased breast tissue or lactational changes, which is why it is important to have anything new or concerning evaluated. The takeaway isn't to become hypervigilant about every breast change. It's to know what is normal for you and pay attention when something changes.

So what should you actually look for? A new lump or thickening is one obvious change, but breast cancer doesn’t always present as a lump. Changes can include bloody or unusual nipple discharge, a nipple that becomes inverted, dimpling or puckering of the skin, redness or scaling, or a change that simply looks or feels different from what’s normal for you. Most breast changes are not cancer, but a new or persistent change is worth bringing to a health-care provider rather than trying to diagnose it yourself.

“We also don’t want to be fear mongers,” Olita says. “The key is early detection and staying on top of it.”

Know Your Risk

Figuring out your breast cancer risk starts with looking beyond your age. Talk to your doctor about your family history, including which relatives have had breast cancer and how old they were when they were diagnosed, and ask whether a formal risk assessment such as the Tyrer-Cuzick calculator makes sense for you. Breast density is another important factor to consider, and women with dense breasts may need additional screening, such as ultrasound or, depending on their individual risk, MRI. If you have a strong family history or other risk factors, ask whether genetic counseling or testing for mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 is appropriate. And regardless of your age or screening schedule, any new breast change should be evaluated rather than assumed to be hormonal or benign.

Know What to Expect After a Diagnosis

For younger women, a breast cancer diagnosis can also come at a particularly complicated point in life. There may be questions about fertility, relationships, sexuality, menopause, appearance, work, or caring for young children alongside everything that comes with treatment.

Olita says the Young Survival Coalition is one resource for younger women with breast cancer, offering educational and survivorship programs as well as support around issues such as fertility, relationships, and sexuality. CancerCare and other local organizations can also provide counseling, support groups, transportation assistance, and other resources.

But Fasano says there's another group that often doesn't know where to turn: the people surrounding the person with cancer. So many of us have friends who are dealing with advanced breast cancer. Do you ask about their treatment? Do you bring it up? Do you give them space? Or do you risk making them feel as though their diagnosis is the only thing anyone sees?

That's part of what Fasano hopes to change by creating a space where women can talk more openly about the experience, whether they have been diagnosed themselves, have a family member or friend who has, or simply want to know more.

“People should be able to talk about their experiences and talk about the things that they’re going through and talk about their fears,” she says.

Beyond the Ribbon will include a panel of medical professionals discussing breast cancer in younger women, prevention, early detection, and what happens after a diagnosis. There will also be a wellness area with information about breast health and menopause, along with opportunities to connect with local resources.

For Fasano, the event is ultimately about moving beyond the annual pink-ribbon conversation and making breast cancer something women feel more comfortable talking about all year long.

The Beyond the Ribbon event will take place Tuesday, October 7th at 6 p.m. at Great South Bay Brewery of Ronkonkoma. The evening will feature an interactive Wellness Lounge with hands-on educational experiences, a Vendor Marketplace designed to foster community connection, and a panel of experts sharing valuable insight, tools, and resources. Get your ticket here.