Hello, I'm James Reynolds. Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. In BBC OS

conversations we bring people together to share their experiences. This time after the announcement that Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has cancer, we talk to six young women about how being diagnosed with the disease changed their lives. When speaking about the news that she was being treated for cancer, Catherine, the Princess of Wales,

sent a message to everyone else facing the disease not to lose hope. In this edition then, young women

around the world talk candidly about their own diagnosis including how best to

explain what's happening to them and to their kids. After a few days his friend came over to have a play

and I've overheard them saying my mommy has a poisonous rock in her booby

so they chopped the booby out but now it's bionic.

According to research from the World Health Organization one in five people will develop cancer in their lifetime. Many of those will survive,

though there are various factors that will determine this, not least the quality of health

care where you live. The WHO has said that the disease is the leading cause of death worldwide,

accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. Medical researchers also suggest

that globally the number of people under 50 diagnosed with cancer has increased by 80%

over the past three decades. There could be various factors for this such as environmental or

genetic causes or we're just getting much better at spotting

the condition early. You'd be forgiven for assuming that cancer is a disease of

older generations but that is not always the case as we hear in this message.

So my name is Anna Bials. I am 36 years old.

I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2009 when I was just 21 years old. I was at the end of four years of

study. Literally about to finish my finals and I don't think I presented in a sort of typical way for anything really. I woke up one morning with a swelling in my neck and I was encouraged by one of my lecturers to go and see a doctor and they really didn't know what was wrong with me.

I was sent from a GP straight to a hospital

and they initially diagnosed me with an infection

in my thyroid because it was presenting

...