[KARE 11 News, October 20, 2021]
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and with it comes a concerning new trend researchers say they're studying closely.Doctors say more younger women are being diagnosed with late stage breast cancer.
At just 34 years old, Arianna Gavzy was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2018. Despite no family history, she still had a genetic predisposition for the disease.
Doctors say breast cancer is the most common cancer among women 15 to 39. A new study in the journal "Radiology" found stage four cancer in women under 40 jumped 20% over a five year period.
Researchers are calling that "significant."
"There's a shift in the general population towards certain cancer types happening at younger ages," says Allina Health's Shanda Phippen, who's a genetic counselor. "It's just there's something going on in the world and we don't quite know what it is."