Toner Buzz & YSC Help Young Adults Battle Breast Cancer

10/02/2019

Toner Buzz is helping fight breast cancer by supporting the Young Survival Coalition (YSC), donating $5 for every order placed between October 1 through October 11 to help the group’s efforts. In addition, Toner Buzz is offering a special non-expiring discount code: YSC10. Use this coupon anytime at checkout for orders over $150 and Toner Buzz will knock $10 off your order AND donate $10 to the YSC!

Facing a breast cancer diagnosis is scary, and doubly so for women under the age of 40. Breast cancer for younger women is more aggressive, and requires intensive treatment. Sadly, research about breast cancer in women under 40 is sorely lacking and under-funded.

Enter The Young Survival Coalition

The Young Survival Coalition (YSC) hopes to change that by addressing the needs and amplifying the voices of young adults affected by breast cancer, locally, nationally, and internationally.

“A partnership with Toner Buzz enables YSC to further our mission of providing young survivors and their co-survivors the support, resources and community to know that they are not facing breast cancer alone,” says YSC coordinator Danielle Armour. “That’s why your partnership is so important to not only support YSC but help spread the message that young adults can and do get breast cancer.”

Humble Beginnings

In 1998, a group of women whom had all been diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40 met in New York City. This was the beginning of Young Survival Coalition. These women understood intimately how young adults were left out of the research, community, and conversations about breast cancer. That day, YSC committed itself to a lofty mission: create a world where no young adult faces breast cancer alone.

Young Adult Breast Cancer Is Different

Battling cancer is never easy, but young adults face unique challenges, especially those diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Young adults are generally diagnosed with more aggressive forms of breast cancer with higher fatality rates.

Because breast cancer is more common in older women, that’s where most of the research money is spent. As a result, there is a severe lack of research about young adults with breast cancer. Young women are under-represented in current cancer studies.

Additionally, young women battling cancer may find themselves under-insured. Because cancer in young patients in often diagnosed at a later stage and is more aggressive, the cost of cancer treatment is high and immediate. Financial hardships are not uncommon for young cancer patients and their families.

Also, breast cancer among young women carries a social stigma their older counterparts don’t always face. It is challenging for some to embrace their new body after breast cancer-related surgery and/or the side effects of medically induced menopause. Young women battling breast cancer may face issues with body image, intimacy, and fertility. Young breast cancer survivors also have a higher rate of anxiety and depression.

Numbers Don’t Lie...They Frighten

The statistics provided by YSC are eye-opening...and more than a little scary.

There is still no effective breast cancer screening tool for women under 40, most of whom have dense breast tissue that prevents routine mammograms from being a useful screening tool.
Nearly 80% of young women diagnosed with breast cancer find their breast abnormality themselves.
In 2015, the American Cancer Society projected 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer among U.S. women annually. An estimated 12,150 cases of breast cancer will be in women under age 40, and approximately 26,393 women will be under 45 years of age.
Every year, more than 1,000 women under age 40 die from breast cancer.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women who are pregnant or have recently given birth, occurring once in every 3,000 pregnancies. An estimated 30% or more of all breast cancer in young women is diagnosed within a few years after having a baby.
Compared to older women, young women generally face more aggressive cancers and lower survival rates. Evidence strongly suggests breast cancer before age 40 differs biologically from the cancer faced by older women.

Young African American women face even greater challenges:

African American women under age 35 have rates of breast cancer two times higher than caucasian women under age 35.
African American women under age 35 die from breast cancer three times as often as caucasian women of the same age.
Research also shows that young African American women are more likely to get aggressive forms of breast cancer than anyone else.

Strength in Numbers

Young Survival Coalition is the largest nonprofit dedicated exclusively to young adults diagnosed with breast cancer age 40. The group ensures no young adult faces breast cancer alone, through educational resources and programming, annual conferences, and local and online support networks. YSC also educates and influences the medical, research and legislative communities to address breast cancer in young adults.

For more information, visit youngsurvival.org. You can learn more about young adult breast cancer with YSC’s “Breast Health and You Guide.” You can also learn more about breast cancer in young adults here.

Any purchases made from Toner Buzz between October 1 and October 11, 2019 will help support the YSC. Also, use the code YSC10 on orders over $150 and Toner Buzz will take $10 off your total and donate it to the YSC!