Breast Cancer Rates Increase Among Women Under 50

A record number of women under 50 are being diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.K., according to  Cancer Research U.K., The Guardian reported May 2. One in five breast cancer cases are now among women under the age of 50 and 10,068 women under the age of 50 in the U.K. were diagnosed with the disease in 2010 – 2,356 more than in 1995. The rise in diagnoses represents an 11 percent growth in incidence rates of breast cancer in women aged under 50 over the same period – from 38 per 100,000 women diagnosed in 1993-1995 to 42 women per 100,000 in 2008-2010. The charity suggested that growing alcohol consumption, the use of the contraceptive pill and women having fewer children and later in life could be contributing factors.