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Young women with breast cancer

If you are reading this it's likely that you, a family member or friend has been diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. While all women with breast cancer will have many experiences in common, young women may face some issues and concerns not experienced by older women. These might relate to whether they are pre- or post-menopausal, have young children, still want to have children and so on.  We hope the information provided for young women helps you in your journey with breast cancer. If you've been diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 12 months, you might wish to get a copy of My Journey Kit, which has a lot of information you might find useful. “My breast cancer diagnosis came out of the blue – it was a real shock. A young woman in her 20s or 30s is not thinking about dying. Breast cancer forced me to examine the issue of my mortality. At the time I would have preferred to be making decisions like ‘What movie will I see?’” Laura How common is breast cancer in young women? This page provides a definition of young women and Australian statistics on the incidence of breast cancer in young women. “I eventually found a support group for young women who had breast cancer and it was great. I developed some strong friendships with others who really understood what I was going through. It was also good to be able to exchange tips and hints on all sorts of things.” Brigid Resources for young women We hope these two resource lists will assist with some useful sources of information and support:                         resources for young women with breast cancer                         resources to help children. “My son was 6 when I was diagnosed and I was planning to fall pregnant later that year. After my mastectomy, my son said ‘Mummy, when your breast grows back, will you be well enough to have a baby?’ Suffice to say there were many talks to help him understand the situation at his level.” Mary  Issues of concern This page notes a range of issues of concern identified by the Young Women's Working Party. “I’d had a breast lump for over 8 months before someone decided to take my concerns seriously. They kept telling me I was too young to get breast cancer. I’m still pretty angry that I had to fight to get the lump checked out.” Dana Personal stories and poems This is a collection of personal stories and poems from young women. We are also interested in your story and stories from partners, family  and friends. If you would like to contribute, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .   Clinical trial specifically for young women For more information about clinical trials designed specifically for young women with early breast cancer.