One in ten young women with breast cancer are new mothers

Many younger breast cancer sufferers first notice signs of the disease when they are breastfeeding, says new research. Picture: TSPL

The number of women aged 45 and under diagnosed with breast cancer is thought to be on the rise, with an estimated 5,600 new cases in this age group each year.

Studies have suggested that the longer women delay motherhood, the higher the chance they will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.

The average age of mothers in 2014 increased to 30, around four years higher than in the 1970s.

New research from Breast Cancer Care among 496 women aged 45 and under who developed breast cancer has found one in ten spotted signs while pregnant or breastfeeding.

More than a third (39 per cent) of women went through treatment when their youngest child was aged five or under.

Half (53 per cent) of 196 women who had young children felt the biggest impact of treatment was being too ill to care for them.

The biggest fear for 66 per cent of mothers was not seeing their children grow up. Female breast cancer is strongly related to age, with almost half of all cases among those aged 65 and over.

Rates rise steeply from around age 30 to 34, level off for women in their 50s, then rise further at age 65 to 69.

Rates drop slightly for women aged 70 to 74 and then increase steadily to plateau in those aged 85 and over.

Up to age 29, women have a one in 1,950 chance of developing breast cancer, rising to one in 210 by age 39 and one in 48 by age 49.

Samia al Qadhi, chief executive of Breast Cancer Care, said: “We urge breast cancer units to adopt our recommendations for supporting younger women with breast cancer, which include a referral to a specialist if diagnosed during pregnancy.”

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that just over 10,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 50 every year in the UK.