The diagnosis of Kylie Minogue with breast cancer has led to confusion among women over what age they are most likely to get breast cancer.
Cancer Research UK said that most women erred in thinking the disease is more likely to strike the under-70s than women over 70,.Their survey of 2,289 women revealed that 77 per cent of them thought that a woman's risk of breast cancer was increased if she was under 70. Over a third of these women thought that women were more likely to get breast cancer if they were under 50.
However, earlier studies have shown that breast cancer risk increases with age, with a one in 200 risk of developing breast cancer in women up to the age of 40. However by the age of 50, the risk rises to one in 50 and for women over the age of 70, the risk is one in 11.
On the other hand there is a one in 15,000 chance for women up to the age of 25.
Kylie Minogue was 36 when she was diagnosed with the disease last year.
Professor John Toy, medical director of Cancer Research UK, said: "It is always distressing when women of any age are diagnosed, particularly when the woman is young, with her life still ahead of her.
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Source-Medindia
NLA
