Scientists have found out why young women breast cancer is more often detected late

Young women with breast cancer are more likely to face delays in diagnosis, which increases the likelihood of detecting the disease at a late stage. This conclusion was reached by researchers who analyzed the data of 1,071 patients in whom cancer was detected up to 40 years. The results of the scientific work are published in the journal Cancer.

The researchers used data from the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Study. Experts studied how much time passed between the appearance of the first symptoms, seeing a doctor, confirming the diagnosis and starting antitumor treatment.

Delay criteria were established for each stage. Late treatment was considered to be a visit to a doctor 90 days or more after the first signs of the disease appeared. A similar period was used to assess the diagnostic stage, counting the time from the first dose to a biopsy that confirmed the presence of a malignant tumor.

The delay in initiating treatment was considered to be at least 60 days between diagnosis and the first therapeutic procedure.

The analysis showed that 153 patients sought treatment late. In another 120 cases, the diagnosis was delayed, and 228 women experienced a delay in starting treatment.

After taking into account additional factors, experts found that low annual income is associated with an increased likelihood of a late visit to the doctor. At the same time, the diagnostic stage was more often delayed in the youngest participants of the study.

In addition, it turned out that in women who were diagnosed late, breast cancer was more often detected at a later stage. This is important for choosing further treatment.

The authors note that the common disease may require more extensive surgery, radiation therapy or systemic drug treatment. Such procedures can significantly affect the quality of life of patients.

However, the researchers found no statistically significant association between the identified delays and overall survival or survival without cancer events in the study group. Thus, the results do not suggest that the reported delays directly increased mortality among the participants.

Additional analysis showed that women with triple-negative breast cancer were less likely to experience late treatment and delayed diagnosis. Patients with more aggressive types of tumors were also less likely to delay the start of treatment.

Senior study author Kristen Brantley, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, stressed the need to raise awareness among young women and healthcare professionals about breast cancer symptoms.

According to the researchers, existing ideas that breast cancer predominantly affects older women may interfere with the timely recognition of the disease in young patients.

Scientists believe that a more attentive attitude to the first symptoms and timely examination can reduce diagnostic delays and reduce the likelihood of detecting tumors in the later stages.

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