In General, Younger People Get More Aggressive Cancer

I'm not surprised that many people don't know this. It's second nature to me, since I've lived it and every doctor I've ever encountered has always said these words before recommending the most aggressive treatment all down the line. (Harsher treatment--dose dense chemo, radiation with additional boosts-- is what has me wondering about my real risks for complications, something that I'd say hasn't been adequately studied to tell us anything definitive about percentages or time horizons.)

For those who don't know, here it is from YSC. Or if you don't want to click, here's the takeaway: In general, younger women face more aggressive cancers and have a lower survival rate than older women.

Quite frankly, that ups the suckage factor, which is very high anyway when you get cancer young. It includes raising very young children during treatment, trying to get, keep or find a job that you really, really need for many more years, a very high likelihood that you can't have any or any more children and that your hormonal levels will always be whacked or immediately halted because of other surgery that's deemed necessary, and etc.

Cancer is not kind to anyone, but the young face some especially harsh hurdles, which is why there are groups like YSC. It is a different beast for us.