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You're listening to Life Kit

from NPR.

Hey everybody, it's Mary L.

In November of last year, I went to my doctor for an annual checkup, and she felt a lump in my breast. I hadn't felt it myself.

After multiple mammograms,

ultrasounds, and biopsies, I was diagnosed with early stage

breast cancer. Yeah, it was a shock. The latest statistics tell us that one in eight women will get breast cancer over a lifetime.

Now, I'm in my mid-30s. I didn't have a strong family history of breast cancer, don't have a genetic mutation that would raise my risk.

I never expected this would happen to me at this age.

But in the past decade, there's been an increase in breast cancer diagnosis rates for all women but

even more so for those under 50. Dr. Jason Mowabi is a medical oncologist at

MD Anderson Cancer Center he focuses specifically on cancer, and he says more than half of his

patients are under 50.

Initially, breast cancer was known as more of a disease of the elderly, but I can tell you that it's getting more and more common in the

younger population. The good news is breast cancer survival rates have been

improving too. Breast cancer deaths have dropped by about 40% since 1989.

That's because of better screening and better treatment options.

...