05/19/2009 08:35:03 PM EST

Breast cancer strikes an unlikely victim

posted by AnaKasparian

Fifth-grader Hannah Powell-Auslam felt a constant itch in her left breast. She wasn't sure what was causing the irritation, so she went and asked her mom about it. When Carrie Auslam immediately discovered a hard mass in her daughter's breast, she took her to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

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The Auslams had no reason to suspect that the lump was anything serious. There is no history of breast cancer in their family, and Hannah is only 10 years old. The likelihood of a girl developing breast cancer at her age is 0.1 percent.

Doctors removed a small part of the lump and sent it to a laboratory for a biopsy. They reassured the Auslams that the lump could not possibly be malignant.

Surprisingly enough, the biopsy results indicated that Hannah has Stage IIA Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, which is an adult form of breast cancer. She will likely face a mastectomy of her left breast, which will be reconstructed when she gets older. Hannah will undergo chemotherapy, but since her prognosis is good, and there has been minimal spread of the disease to the rest of the body, her condition is very treatable. Doctors say that the cancer is not as aggressive because of her young age.

This story is incredible because of the simple fact that breast cancer is often misdiagnosed in young women and girls. Young girls who come across suspicious lumps in their breasts are often brushed off by doctors. There are no regular screenings to detect breast cancer in young women, and their only hope for early detection are breast self-exams. Hannah's mom says that her daughter thought the lump was a normal part going through puberty. Had she not alerted her mom to the irritating itch she was experiencing, the cancer would have continued to spread throughout her body.

Although Hannah's case is extremely rare, there have been more and more cases of young women discovering that they have breast cancer. According to the Young Survival Coalition:

"There are more than 250,000 women 40 and under in the U.S. living with breast cancer, and over 11,100 young women will be diagnosed in the next year. Despite the fact that breast cancer is on of the leading causes of cancer death in women ages 15 to 54:

  • Many young women and their doctors are unaware that they are at risk for breast cancer.
  • There is no effective breast cancer screening tool for women 40 and under.
  • Young women are often diagnosed at a later stage than their older counterparts.
  • There is very little research or educational material focused on issues unique to this younger population, such as fertility, pregnancy, genetic predisposition, the impact of hormonal status on the effectiveness of treatment, psycho-social and long-term survivorship issues, and higher mortality rates for young women, particularly for African-Americans and Latinas.
  • As the incidence of young women with breast cancer is much lower than in older women, young women are underrepresented in many research studies."

It's time to prepare young women for early detection of breast cancer. Girls as young as ten should start learning how to conduct a breast self-exam. In addition, they need to be told what to do if they notice anything unusual in their breasts.

Hannah is an incredible girl, and she is doing her best to turn her misfortune into a positive learning experience. Hopefully her condition can bring more awareness about breast cancer in young women.

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Breast cancer strikes an unlikely victim | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
10yr old girls should worry about breast cancer? (none / 0)
Really?! 10 year old girls should worry about dying and learn about how to conduct a breast exams?! Really?!

Look, while its a good story and an important one to tell to educate people (its good for parents to be aware/reminded of cancers in children), people are usually worse off if they lose proper perspective. There is enough fear mongering in this world and our culture is already far too consumed with worrying about this or that, that its really not healthy for the mind or general quality of life. Psychologists have already been warning us to be careful of needlessly frightening our children (& frankly ourselves) and indoctrinating them to a life where hysteria is natural and expected.

The statistical focus here is 40 and under which covers ALOT of ground, its frankly misleading if one wants to talk about breast cancer in children. The breast cancer statistics for "40 and under" is being used to justify promoting more funding for an "under represented youth" for research, education, and materials, and to urge young girls to perform breast exams and to get doctors to be less dismissive of the possibility that a young girl has breast cancer. I'm sorry, when people are close to 40, they should be far removed from the "youth" category of statistics.

Actual useful numbers/facts on breast cancer for youth (Keep in mind US population is 300,000,000+):
  • Between 1999-2004 there was only 22 cases of breast cancer for children between the ages of 10-14, thats an average of 4.5 a year.
  • Between 1999-2004 there was only 94 cases of breast cancer for children between the ages of 15-19, thats an average of about 20 a year.

Compare these numbers to the #1 cancer which afflicts children, leukemia. Every year an average of 13,800 leukemia cases are reported and 69,000 for the years 99-04. You know what you call a doctor who suspects breast cancer in children 19 and younger..... "a really bad doctor who is clueless about statistical improbabilities".

The fact is that doctors need to test for probable ailments, not every possible disease or problem, and children need to be children.

by Smokin on 05/20/2009 02:41:20 AM EST

Of course it's rare.... (none / 0)
For people under the age of 20 to get breast cancer...but it's still misdiagnosed nearly every single time. So doctors should be aware of it. And yes. 10 year old girls should have to start learning about breast cancer and how to detect it. I love how you're arguing against that as if it's a bad thing. And your leukeimia point is valid, but you're missing my point. Regardless of how many cases of breast cancer there is for women under the age of 40, young women need to be aware of it, and doctors need to stop brushing off the possibility that it could happen.

There is no damn fear mongering here. This isn't a political issue. Awareness is better ignorance.

by AnaKasparian on 05/20/2009 06:30:25 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Of course you're right..... (none / 0)
Is Smokin suggesting that there is some specific time when women should be made aware of the risk of breast cancer?  20? 30? 40?  Maybe if the subject were more open and discussed using real factual risks, fewer women would die.  When the facts around prostate cancer in men became more open and discussed, higher percentages of men got exams resulting in earlier detection and treatment.  The real question is: given all the money and time we've spent why are the various forms of cancer still killing so many people?  Lung cancer is rising in women who don't smoke at an alarming rate.  What is happening and why don't we know it?

by roleny1 on 05/21/2009 01:43:21 AM EST

[ Parent ]
I am not disagreeing cause you have a nice rack ;) (none / 0)
"For people under the age of 20 to get breast cancer...but it's still misdiagnosed nearly every single time."

 According to whom? There are so few cases (25 cases a year for 19yr old and younger) that such a declaration seems BS to me. Is it unreasonable that doctors will assume that its not breast cancer and must be something else, of course not!

 "10 year old girls should have to start learning about breast cancer and how to detect it. I love how you're arguing against that as if it's a bad thing."

 It IS a bad thing IMHO. Children need to be protected from leeebral over reactions along with the rest of us. It would be smarter to promote good health, regular checkups, and to promote proper ways children could talk to doctors so they can do their jobs better. Promoting this idea that children need to self breast examinations to detect breast cancer is way over the top if you consider the actual risk of breast cancer in children.

"There is no damn fear mongering here. This isn't a political issue. Awareness is better ignorance."

Absolutely, information is ALWAYS a good thing, but it has to be realistic and not misleading. I think this story has two things going on, its a sad story of an unlucky little girl, but its unfortunately married to another point that its not compatible with the OG story. Those statistics and list of issues related to youth and breast cancer is somewhat misleading and IMO is fear mongering a bit when its placed next to a 10years old girl's tragedy. Many will look at those dire stats and conclude that their children is in much more danger than actually are.

 I'm reminded of one of my fav shows, ... Bullshit! They did an episode on "stranger danger" that I found very interesting. Its about how counter productive we can be if we focus on the wrong thing. 95% of molestations and abductions happen from people we know, yet almost 100% of our attention & efforts goes into keeping strangers away from kids. Its counter productive.

Here are those stats from BS! and I included breast cancer for children:

School age child dying
1 in 3000
Traffic Accident
1 in 8000
Homicide Away From School
1 in 21,000
Cancers (not including breast)
1 in 33,000
Accidental Drowning
1 in 73,000
Heart Disease
1 in 79,000
A Firearm Accident
1 in 200,000
Pneumonia or Influenza
1 in 250,000
Bronchitis, Emphysema or Asma
1 in 260,000
Cerebro-vascular Disease
1 in 390,000
Accidental Fall
1 in 390,000
HIV
1 in 420,000
Act of God like Lightning
1 in 780,000
Diabetes
1 in 850,000
Meningitis
1 in 1,300,000
Adverse effect to medical care
1 in 1,300,000
Abducted and Murdered
1 in 1,500,000
Homicide at School
1 in 1,700,000
Breast Cancer in a child 15-19
1 in 4,000,000
Breast Cancer in a child 10-14
1 in 16,300,000

 From what I've seen, women 20-25 is also very unlikely to get breast cancer. Chances get exponentially greater from 30+. In fact 91% of "11,000 young diagnosed every year" is over the age of 30, 7.6% is from 25-30.

by Smokin on 05/21/2009 05:28:55 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Breast cancer strikes an unlikely victim | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
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