Not often.  Mostly because mammograms for younger women are rarely
meaningful, the natural breast tissue is too dense and contrasty for
anything untoward to stand out, and also because malignancies are rare in
young people.  This is partly because most cancers have been around for ten
years or so before they can be detected, and partly because the risk
increases with age.

Even then, 85% of suspicious mammograms turn out benign.  Calcifications can
be caused by other things besides tumours, for example scar tissue.  Breast
cancer -can- happen to women of your age, and can present like this, but it
is rather rare, more often painless, and it is much more likely to be
something else.  A biopsy will almost certainly show what is going on, and
will probably set your mind at rest.

Good luck with it.

Tim Jackson

I think the radiographer can tell whether tumours are present as well as
calcification.  In my wife's case, the surgeon who examined her breast lumps
sent her straight to radiography for an ultrasonic scan.  The radiographer
who performed the scan diagnosed cancer and sent her back to the surgeon who
performed a biopsy.  The examination, scan and the biopsy were carried out
on the same day. Within three days the biopsy results confirmed cancer and
my wife had surgery within a couple of weeks.

I'm only guessing here but the two week wait for a biopsy suggests to me
that your doctors don't really think you have cancer. Perhaps the biopsy is
being carried out just to provide reassurance.

As Tim Jackson said, breast cancer is very unusual in women of your age.  My
wife was 32 when she was diagnosed and our surgeon said so few women of her
age develop bc that meaningful statistics were hard to come by.  I think the
fact that you have had a baby further reduces the chances of bc.

It's easy for me to say this but I hope that you will not be too anxious
while waiting for your results.

Good luck and best wishes to you.

Richard

Breast cancer women your age doesn't occur very often. I'm sure several
women here can tell a story of their doc telling them not to worry because
BC "never" occurs in women your age. Your doc is certainly being diligent
and checking all the possibilities.

Women in the 25-29 year old group represent about 0.4% of all breast cancer
diagnoses in the US. Here's the breakdown for all age groups:

Age    % of all BC diagnosed
00-04  00.0%
05-09  00.0%
10-14  00.0%
15-19  00.0%
20-24  00.1%
25-29  00.4%
30-34  01.6%
35-39  03.9%
40-44  07.6%
45-49  10.8%
50-54  10.8%
55-59  09.9%
60-64  10.3%
65-69  11.8%
70-74  11.8%
75-79  09.7%
80-84  06.5%
85+    04.9%

These number were produced using my older copy of the SEERStat database CD.
SEER is a branch of the US National Cancer Institute that collects
statistics on cancer:
http://seer.cancer.gov/

Lance
*****

Thank you all for your information and well-wishes.  Even if things turn out
o.k. this time, maybe it is a good thing to learn about breast cancer at an
early age. I have recently found out that I have a few first cousins that
developed breast cancer in their 30's. Finding it early is important, I am
finding out.

Thanks again. Take care everyone! I'll let you know what happens.

- Deanna

My breast cancer FAQ has some sites with stats.

Updated: Sep 4, 2003
- Ductal carcinoma in situ
- HER2/new: negative
- Estrogen/progesterone: both positive
- Spread to lymph nodes: negative

Breast cancer
- Angiosarcoma: more in young women, difficult to treat, tend to grow
quickly, very rare.
- Inflammatory: very uncommon but very serious.
- Types of benign disorders: cysts, sclerosing adenosis, atypical
hyperplasia, fibroadenomas, duct papillomas, duct ectasia, fibrosis,
mastitis, metaplasia (apocrine or squamos).
- Poliferative tumors: moderate or florid hyperplasia, papilloma with
fibrovascular core, atypical hyperplasia (ductal or lobular).

Misc facts
Ultrasound cannot detect calcifications
(http://www.breastcancer.org/testing_ultrasound.html)
A tumor does not mean cancer.
In situ means the tumor has not spread. Invasive means it has spread
beyond the original site.
A common sign of breast disease found by mammography is
microcalcification -- very small deposits of calcium, deposited in
breast tissue. These calcifications are usually of varying shapes
frequently occur in tight groups, and are found in benign (NOT
CANCEROUS) and malignant (CANCEROUS) conditions. Sometimes these
calcifications, seen on mammogram, occur without an associated mass.

Stages of cancer
Is determined by size of tumor, if lymph nodes are involved, and if it
has spread.
Stage 0: abnormal cells lining a gland or duct.
Stage 1: tumor measures up to 2cm and no lymph nodes involved.
Stage 2: tumor measures 2-5cm and has spread to lymp nodes on same
side of body as tumor.
Stage 3a: larger than 5cm OR tumor has spread to lymph nodes and nodes
are clumping/sticking together.
Stage 3b: tumor has spread to breast skin, muscle or internal mammary
lymph nodes.
Stage 4: tumor has spread beyond local lymph nodes and tissue to other
organs.

Tumor grades
Grade 1: look a lot like normal cells and are slow growing.
Grade 2: do not look like normal cells, they are faster growing and
tend to stick together.
Grade 3: have irregular shapes, are fast growing and tend to stick
together.
The higher the grade the more susceptible the cells are to treatment
like radiation.

Hormone receptors
Breast cancer cells can have hormone receptors. They are either ER
positive or PR positive. These are more easily treatable. Score of 0
is no receptors (negative). Other grades are 1+, 2+ or 3+.

HER-2/neu receptors. The presence of estrogen and progesterone
receptors is important because cancers that have those receptors can
be treated with hormonal therapies. HER-2/neu expression may also help
predict outcome. There are also some therapies directed specifically
at tumors dependent on the presence of HER-2/nue.

If your cancer expresses it, you usually have a higher chance of
having your tumor recur after surgery. A compound called Herceptin (or
Trastuzumab) is a substance that blocks this receptor and helps stop
the breast cancer from growing. Some patients are candidates for this
medicine.

Chemotherapy
Two of the most common regimens are AC (doxorubicin and
cycolphosphamide) for 3 months or CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate,
and fluorouracil) for 6 months.

Radiation
Breast cancer commonly receives radiation therapy. Radiation therapy
uses high energy rays (similar to x-rays) to kill cancer cells. It
comes from an external source, and it requires patients to come in 5
days a week for up to 6 weeks to a radiation therapy treatment center.
The treatment takes just a few minutes, and it is painless. Radiation
therapy is used in all patients who receive breast conservation
therapy (BCT). It is also recommended for patients after a mastectomy
who had large tumors, lymph node involvement, or close/positive
margins after the surgery. Radiation is important in reducing the risk
of local recurrence and is often offered in more advanced cases to
kill tumor cells that may be living in lymph nodes.

New Treatments
The current methods of treatment in use in the United States are:
surgery (mastectomy and lumpectomy), radiation, chemotherapy, hormone
therapy, and monoclonal antibody therapy.

Antibodies are proteins in the body that attach to unique proteins on
foreign invaders and signal their presence to T-cells. ADEPT is a
technique used to attach chemotherapy drugs to antibodies that are
able to attach to tumor cells. This technique delivers the drugs
straight to the tumor while sparing normal tissue. One German group of
researchers has designed a novel ADEPT system that is likely to be
more stable and efficient than current systems.

Indol-3-carbinol (I3C) is a natural chemical found in cabbage, brussel
sprouts, and broccoli. One group of researchers from UCLA at Berkeley
demonstrated that I3C stops both estrogen receptor-negative and
estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells from reproducing. These
researchers conducted additional experiments to identify the most
potent synthetic and natural forms of I3C. Their studies suggested
that I3C could potentially be developed into a new breast cancer
treatment that may be more effective and have fewer side effects than
current treatments.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), also called photoradiation therapy,
phototherapy, or photochemotherapy, is a treatment that combines a
light source and a photosensitizing agent (a drug that is activated by
light) to destroy cancer cells. It has been approved by the United
States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for certain cases of cancer
of the esophagus and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and was most
recently approved to treat actinic keratosis, a precancerous skin
condition.

PDT works because the photosensitizing agent collects more readily in
cancer cells than in normal cells. When the agent is then exposed to
light, it reacts with oxygen to create chemicals that can kill the
cell. Because the approved light sources can only penetrate a limited
depth through tissue, PDT is mainly used to treat areas on or just
under the skin, or in the lining of internal organs.

Stats
9 out of 10 lumps are benign (also 8/10, 3/4)
1 out of 10 lumps show atypical hyperplasia: they are not cancer but
are growing abnormally.
80% of women who get breast cancer have no family history of the
disease. About 90% of women who develop breast cancer do not have a
family history of the disease. (NBCC)
Fibrocystic breast disorders affect 50% of American women.
When the disease is confined to the breast, the 5-year survival rate
is over 95%.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in
the U.S; approximately 39,800 women in the U.S. will die from the
disease this year. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death
for U.S. women between the ages of 20 and 59, and the leading cause of
cancer death for women worldwide.
Most breast cancers -- about 77% -- occur in women ages 50 and older.
Less than 5% of all breast cancer cases occur in women under the age
of 40.
Although scientists have discovered some risk factors for breast
cancer, most factors account for only small increases in a personʼs
chances of developing breast cancer.

Chances to get breast cancer by age:
by age 30    1/2525
by age 40    1/217
age 50        1/50
age 60        1/24
age 70        1/14
age 80        1/10

Sources
DOD Breast cancer research program: http://cdmrp.army.mil/bcrp
FDA Center for Drug Evaluation Research: http://www.fda.gov/cder/
http://www.breastcancer.org/dia_pict_rate.html
http://www.cancer.org
http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org
http://www.oncolink.com *** (with studies and lots of news, ask an
expert)
National Breast Cancer Coalition: www.natlbbc.org (600 orgs)
Nat'l Alliance of Breast Cancer Orgs: http://www.nabco.org
Nat'l Cancer Inst.: http://www.cancer.gov
Nat'l Cancer Inst: http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1973_1999