Runcie Chidebe, Executive Director at Project PINK BLUE, shared on LinkedIn:
“There is a need for more research on breast cancer in younger women in Nigeria and Africa. More adolescents and young adults are now diagnosed with breast cancer and painfully diagnosed with more aggressive breast cancers. Just as Elizabeth Awo-Ejeh eloquently put it.
What is happening?
For instance, in the UK, the most significant risk factors for developing breast cancer are sex and age – 80% of breast cancer cases are in women over 50 years old (Breast Cancer Now).
In China, the burden of breast cancer has notably increased among the women above 40 years of age, peaking between the ages of 50 and 59 years, and the proportion of cases in women under 40 years has decreased (Zheng et al., 2025).
In South Africa, the prevalence of women with breast cancer aged 40-49 years in 2012 was 19.4% versus 26.8% in 2022 (De Lima et al., 2025).
In Nigeria: Only in Ibadan, it has been reported that 30% of breast cancer patients were adolescents and young adults 15–39 years (Ntekim et al., 2009).
Painfully, what we have seen is that the young ladies start their treatment and after a few years; the breast cancer recur and even more aggressive. I have heard many of the young breast cancer complain: they ask- are we sure that these medications are working on our bodies? Why do we have to spend a lot of money on treatments and we do not see returns outcomes or in quality of our lives or even longevity?
I do not have any answers. In my estimation, I think there is a need to do more genomic science and clinical research to undercover what is happening. We need more our policymakers and the government, funders, oncologists and clinical researchers to consider these areas of research. Our patients are seeking for answers.
If you have some ideas, please feel free to share using the comment section. Special thanks to Elizabeth Awo-Ejeh for raising this very important topic.
Let’s do more our women!”
Other insights from Runcie Chidebe.