It’s alarming that breast cancer is being diagnosed more and more in young women.
Seems that breast cancer is no longer a “disease of older women.”
A report from seven outpatient breast centers in New York is bringing major attention to breast cancer in women as young as in their 20s.
Over an 11-year window, 20 to 24 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed were in women 18 to 49.
These results were presented at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in December 2025.
Dr. Stamatia Destounis, a radiologist at Elizabeth Wende Breast Care in Rochester, points out that women under 40 have no formal screening guidelines.
She believes doctors should start doing risk assessments earlier to identify women who may benefit from more proactive screening.
Current Screening Guidelines for Breast Cancer
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends mammograms every other year starting at 40, with that first one being the baseline.
The American Cancer Society recommends yearly screenings beginning at 45, though women 40 to 44 may start if they choose.
Despite having no family history at the time or any concerning signs, I got my first baseline mammogram at 38, then my second at 40, and never missed a year after that.
What I had not known during these earlier years was that I was actually high risk; one day the mammogram tech (first time at that particular clinic) informed me (state law) that I had “dense” breasts.
Though this risk factor isn’t as high as that of BRCA mutations or a family history, it’s definitely on the map.
Subsequent to that information, I never went back to the standard 2D mammograms; I had only 3D (tomosynthesis) procedures.
Tomosynthesis is more sensitive than 2D at detecting malignant masses.
And, every year I also had a whole breast ultrasound screening.
These two procedures, year after year, became the norm until I elected for a preventive double mastectomy after learning my sister had breast cancer.
However, high-risk women may also be advised to include an MRI, along with the mammograms – as young as 30. But there are no guidelines for under 30.
The Study
Dr. Destounis and research manager Andrea Arieno reviewed breast cancer diagnoses from 2014 to 2024 in seven Western New York facilities.
They identified cases in women 18 to 49 and collected details like how the cancer was found and its tumor characteristics.
They excluded cases that weren’t primary breast cancer (i.e., a metastasized tumor in a breast from a different cancer elsewhere) and examined trends based on detection method, age and tumor biology.
- Most of the cancers were invasive and often aggressive.
- The team found 1,799 cancers in 1,290 women in that age group.
- The average diagnosis age was 42.6, with patients as young as 23.
About 41 percent were found through screening. The remaining 59 percent were detected diagnostically after symptoms or concerns.
Younger women made up a steady quarter of diagnoses.
Women under 50 made up only about 21 to 25 percent of screening volume.
Yet they accounted for roughly one in four breast cancer diagnoses every year.
This pattern held steady across the entire study period. Even when fewer young women were screened, cancer rates in the group stayed consistently high.
Youth Doesn’t Automatically Mean Low Risk
Dr. Destounis says the findings show that younger women aren’t automatically protected from this disease.
The study didn’t investigate why breast cancer seems to be on the rise, percentage-wise, in younger women.
The Centers for Disease Control says increased obesity rates, alcohol consumption and a sedentary lifestyle are all associated with higher risk.
The National Cancer Institute points to delayed childbirth, having fewer pregnancies and reduced breastfeeding may increase lifetime estrogen exposure, which can fuel tumor growth.
Environmental exposures and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (such as those in plastic bottles) are also being investigated as contributing factors.
