Cancer’s New Face: Younger and Female
1/16/2025
Cancer’s New Face: Younger and Female
Although long considered a disease of aging, certain cancers are turning up more often in younger women, according to a new report.
More Americans are surviving cancer, but the disease is striking young and middle-aged adults and women more frequently, the American Cancer Society reported on Thursday.
And despite overall improvements in survival, Black and Native Americans are dying of some cancers at rates two to three times higher than those among white Americans.
These trends represent a marked change for an illness that has long been considered a disease of aging, and which used to affect far more men than women.
“The increases are driven by detection of localized tumors and certain cancers fueled by hormones. Some of the rise results from changing fertility patterns. Childbearing and breastfeeding protect against breast cancer, but more American women are postponing childbirth — or are choosing not to bear children at all.”
National Cancer Center is funding breast cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Beckman Institute at City of Hope in California.
