ALEXANDRIA, Ky. — At 21 years old, Gabby Thomas became reportedly the youngest woman in Kentucky to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I never expected to be diagnosed with cancer at 21,” Thomas said.
The Northern Kentucky native was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer just one month before her 22nd birthday.
Although detection technology and treatments have gotten better and mortality rates have decreased significantly, more young women are being diagnosed with breast cancer. In recent years, women under 50 have been diagnosed with breast cancer at a steeper rate increase than before, according to the American Cancer Society.
“The numbers are fairly small compared to older women, but it is something that we see more now than we did many years ago,” said Dr. Philip Leming, medical director at Cincinnati Cancer Advisors, a nonprofit that offers free second opinions and support through one’s journey after a cancer diagnosis.
For Thomas, her journey started eight months before her diagnosis last December, when she found a lump in her breast.
“I actually saw everything with breast cancer awareness month last year, and I was like maybe I should go get it looked at, just to see,” Thomas said. “And then found out it was cancer.”
Doctors still don’t know what caused Thomas’ cancer, and despite researchers trying, the conclusion is the same when it comes to why more young women are developing breast cancer.
“People are studying this, they don't know for certain,” Leming said. “We do know that all these cancers in young people are dominantly estrogen receptor positive, which is kind of an unusual characteristic.”
That was the very characteristic of Thomas’s tumor, leading to 16 rounds of chemo and a double mastectomy.
“That was tough, being 21, getting a mastectomy. That's nothing I've ever pictured in my life, but now I'm just waiting for radiation and I hope that goes well,” said Thomas.
She and Leming encourage all young women to start self-checks early. Thomas added that her diagnosis is proof that age is just a number.
“When you do notice something, you basically want to bring that to the attention of your physician,” said Leming.
In 2000, breast cancer among women ages 20 to 49 was about 64 cases per 100,000 people. But after 2016, for reasons researchers do not yet understand, the trend line made a steep uphill turn, suddenly increasing at 3.76% per year, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. By 2019 the rate reached 74 cases per 100,000.
Researchers at WashU Medicine also found higher rates of breast cancer among Black women, especially those ages 20 to 29. According to the research, they have a 53% increased risk of breast cancer compared with white women of the same age group.
A higher risk for Black women also continues from ages 30 to 39, but the increased risk is smaller, at about 15% greater risk compared with white women of the same age range.
