Latest news with #CopingwithCancerinEarlyAdulthood

Boston Globe

‘Game changing': How ‘breast cancer social media' is helping young women get diagnosed earlier

In the past several years, numerous high-profile women — including Thurston, 'There's much more out there making young women aware [of breast cancer] and the supports and resources there are,' said Dr. Ann Partridge, vice chair of medial oncology and director of the Program for Young Adults with Breast Cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 'Social media has really promoted that in very positive ways.' Advertisement The increased media attention comes as an array of cancers — including breast — are striking Advertisement Partridge said because young women don't get 'They also do worse from a psychosocial emotional standpoint,' Partridge said. 'You're dealing with a bigger problem medically, and then it has more implications psychosocially because of where she is in her life.' As beneficial as the cancer community on social media can be, Partridge warned against taking medical advice from influencers and putting too much stock in others' stories. She said what people share is almost always incomplete and everyone's experiences differ with the type of cancer they have and their treatment plan. Social media can also be rife with misinformation, said Dr. Cristina Pozo-Kaderman, a psychologist and the director of the But one of the benefits of increased awareness on social media, Partridge said, is young women knowing that breast cancer can happen in their age group. This, and hearing other people's stories, can help them advocate for themselves when medical professionals Advertisement 'For the vast majority of people who don't have a strong family history [of breast cancer], who don't have any other personal reason why they're at high risk, that's where it's much harder. And that's the majority of women who present with young-onset cancer,' Partridge said. On the flip side, influencers can also help women find out if they're high risk by spreading awareness about factors like family and personal medical history. Munn, for example, 'We encourage people to know their own risk factors, know their family history, and consider getting genetic testing if they have a strong family history,' Partridge said. For all women, Partridge said, it's important to know and listen to their body and advocate for themselves if something feels off. 'If it's not sitting right with you, stay on it and say, 'I'd feel more comfortable if I got a test,'' she said. Pozo-Kaderman said that even though incidence rates are rising, being diagnosed with cancer as a young adult is still relatively rare, meaning those affected are more likely to feel alone and go through unique challenges. 'When you're diagnosed as a young adult, you don't have this peer group or cohort that is going through similar types of things like you are,' said Pozo-Kaderman, author of 'Coping with Cancer in Early Adulthood: From Diagnosis to Treatment to Day-to-Day Life Changes, Navigating Your Cancer Journey,' due out in October. 'When they go to treatment, they look around and everyone is their parents' or grandparents' age.' Advertisement That's where social media can come in. With hashtags like Bethy Atkins, a 36-year-old Needham resident, partly credits other women's openness about breast cancer — and social media — for helping her catch the disease early and ultimately preserve her ability to have children. Atkins was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer when she was 31. Her first symptom was pain, and she immediately contacted her doctor. She took it so seriously because, in part, a woman she knew from college had publicly documented her own diagnosis in her early 20s on 'Because I knew someone who had this happen young, it was not so much of a shock,' Atkins said. Atkins also used social media to connect with women who had gone through fertility treatments after cancer treatment, 'I'm incredibly grateful I had other examples of people who had been able to get pregnant, because that was super important to me,' she said. Advertisement Another popular breast cancer hashtag — 'At that point, I was like man, this is tough — I'm not finding the support that I needed,' she said. So she turned to Twitter, now X, and at first used random hashtags like #cancer to connect with other young people. In July 2011, she and another cancer survivor created the #bcsm hashtag, which Staley said having social media when she was going through her first two treatments would have been 'game changing.' 'It's amazing the influencers you can find on Instagram and TikTok,' she said, '...people sharing incredible messages of support and awareness.' Atkins, who follows Thurston on social media, hopes the trend of influencers talking about early-onset breast cancer continues. Specifically, she wants young women to be encouraged to 'trust themselves and their bodies.' 'You might not have a friend or a sister who has been through this but see these girls talk about their treatment and diagnosis and their first symptoms,' she said. 'The more stories young women can hear about how other young women have protected their health and advocated for themselves and trusted their bodies, the better equipped we will be.' Advertisement Emily Spatz can be reached at