‘Young women lack cancer resources’

YOUNG Irish women who develop breast cancer are more vulnerable to the physical and psycho-social effects of their treatment because they have fewer resources to turn to, Action Breast Cancer (ABC) has claimed.

Most of the support and educational backup is designed for women over the age of 50, but every year more than 240 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women under the age of 45, and the incidence of the disease among younger women is on the increase.

Specific issues that younger women face include fertility, sexual function, dependent young children, more aggressive treatment and treatment-induced early menopause.