A Comprehensive Review of Breast Cancer in Young Women

Abstract

This issue of Breast Disease is dedicated to a comprehensive overview of breast cancer in young women for all members of the healthcare team who treat women with breast cancer. Breast cancer requires multidisciplinary management, and as such this book provides input from epidemiology, basic science, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, genetics, reproductive endocrinology, psychology, and nursing. Because breast cancer in young women occurs during the reproductive years, additional emphasis is placed on managing breast cancer in pregnant patients, as well as reproductive options for breast cancer survivors. The contributors to this issue of Breast Disease comprise 30 experts from 6 academic institutions across 10 disciplines. My hope is that such diversity in authorship will expand the depth and scope of this book. Bonnie Yankaskas opens this issue by discussing epidemiology of breast cancer in young women, which provides a critical starting point for all other topics. I review the basic science literature pertaining to differences in expression of traditional biomarkers in breast cancers in young women compared to older women, as well as key advances that have expanded molecular classification of human breast cancer that transcends traditional tumor marker approaches. James Evans and