Special Issues in Younger Women with Breast Cancer

Although women less than 50 years old make up less than 25% of the patient population with breast cancer in industrialized countries, they have unique clinical and psychosocial issues that must be addressed as part of their oncology care to ensure the best health and psychosocial outcomes after treatment. Preserving fertility is a major issue for many younger women who have either not had children or would like to have additional children after treatment. Dealing with the disruption of a cancer diagnosis at a young age is challenging physically, socially and emotionally, and the health care system does not always address these patients' concerns. Because younger women have the potential for a long life expectancy after cancer treatment, preventing and reducing the risk for late effects of cancer treatment is very important. We discuss these and a range of other issues throughout this chapter.