UPDATED: Monday, Oct. 30 at 6:45 p.m.

While only 5 percent of breast cancer cases occur in women under the age of 40, two experts have a message for college-age women: It can strike at any age, and a heightened awareness level is integral for early detection.

“Don’t bury your head,” said Liz Fuertes-Binder, a screening navigator at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. “Don’t think because you’re younger that you may not get it. There are people college-age, in their 20s, who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.”

Fuertes-Binder suggested doing self-exams, adding that no question is a dumb question to ask your physician.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in New York. Over a lifetime, a woman living in the United States has a 12.4 percent — or one in eight —  lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer.

There will be 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women in the U.S. in 2017, according to estimates by researchers at the American Cancer Society, and about 2,470 new cases in men. About 40,600 women and 460 men will die from the disease.

Through January 2016, more than 3.5 million women were living with breast cancer in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society report published this month.

Dr. Lisa Lai, an assistant professor of surgery at Upstate Cancer Center, said Upstate completes about 250 breast cancer surgeries per year. She and Fuertes-Binder agreed that women over 40 have no reason not to get a mammogram, an exam that aids in earlier diagnosis.

Mammograms are free with insurance. People with a family history of breast cancer are at a higher risk than the average population and should talk to their doctor about getting a mammogram earlier, Lai said.

Lai said at least two hours of aerobic exercise per week can decrease risk of breast cancer, as well as limited alcohol consumption. Less than one glass of wine per day on a routine basis “is probably doubling the risk of breast cancer,” she said.

That’s especially important for college-age women, who can minimize their risk by limiting their alcohol intake. Nearly 60 percent of college students aged 18 to 22 drank alcohol in the past month, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Out of those students, almost two out of three engaged in binge drinking during that same timeframe.

“I also certainly encourage women to be self-aware and do self-exams, meaning a lot of women have lumpy breasts,” Lai said. “Know what’s normal for you. That way, if it has changed, you could point it out to your doctor. You’re the best person to know what’s changed for your body.”

Lai noted that death rates have declined 39 percent from 1989 through 2015 and that about 322,600 breast cancer deaths have been averted. Advancements in technology are largely to credit, and so is early diagnosis. Lai said she believes it may be possible within the next decade to treat certain forms of breast cancer with medication and close observation, and without surgery.

In the American Cancer Society study published this month, researchers found non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks have higher breast cancer incidence and mortality than other racial and ethnic groups. Black women are slightly less likely to get cancer, but the death rate from 2011 to 2015 was 42 percent higher in black women.

“Triple-negative” breast cancer, an aggressive subtype of breast cancer, is twice as common in black women as in whites, according to the study.

Regardless, the experts concur: Women of all ages and racial and ethnic groups should be aware.

In advising young women on whether to get a mammogram, Fuertes-Binger takes from Nike’s advertising department.

“Just do it,” she said.

This story has been updated for appropriate style.

Published on October 29, 2017 at 9:13 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21