Georgia doctors and survivors urge women to get screened during Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and experts are hoping younger women are paying attention.
Recent data released by the American Cancer Society show a growing number of women younger than 50 are being diagnosed with the disease. Young women are almost twice as likely to develop cancer as men of the same age. That gap has widened by over 30% since the early 2000s.
Latosha Key McDade is one of the many women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. The South Fulton Sales executive was stunned when she received her diagnosis before her 30th birthday.
"I'm like, 'What? I'm like 29,'" McDade recalled.
McDade's story is part of an alarming trend that doctors say younger women should be aware of.
"It's concerning because obviously women that age are busy with work, life, raising families," said Dr. Jane Meisel, a medical oncologist at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.
Meisel says the spike in younger patients can be attributed to multiple factors, including exposure to chemicals, rising obesity rates, alcohol consumption, and changing fertility patterns.
"Women are more likely to have children later, and, particularly for hormone-driven cancers, that can be a risk factor for developing that disease," Meisel said.
Research shows that women of color face significantly worse outcomes in breast cancer diagnoses as well.
Experts now recommend women begin getting mammograms at age 40. Meisel says women should screen themselves as well.
"I always encourage women to just be aware of what your breasts feel like, so that if you notice a change, you can kind of track that change and bring it to the attention of a provider, because it's so much better to diagnose something early," she said.
Peyton Johnston noticed something wasn't right when she was 40.
"I was diagnosed with breast cancer in late March of this year. So it's been a relatively new journey," Johnston said.
She's been through six cycles of chemotherapy and is now receiving maintenance therapy to make sure the cancer doesn't come back.
"I hope that, even to somebody that I haven't met, I can be that friend that spurs you on to go get checked out and go ahead and think about scheduling that appointment yourself," she said.
Now 42 and cancer-free, Latosha Key McDade advocates for young women going through the same battle she fought.
"One of the things I do tell women, you know, just because we're young doesn't mean we can't get sick. But it doesn't also mean that we are not strong enough to fight it," she said.
She urges women to get screened early and often to continue on their path with hope.