Dr Kate Law, head of clinical programmes for the Cancer Research Campaign, said it was well known that tumours tended to be more aggressive among younger people. She said UK national guidelines suggested women under 50 suffering from breast cancer should be treated with chemotherapy. However, she said the guidance was not strongly worded. Younger patients tend to have a more advanced cancer when they are diagnosed because their breasts are denser and small tumours are more difficult to detect than in older women. Because the disease is usually more aggressive in young women it is also more likely to have spread beyond the breast into the lymphatic system.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in many developed countries.
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