Woman, 26, felt her concerns were being dismissed before cancer diagnosis

Andrea de Armas knew the ultrasound technician thought she was overreacting. 

De Armas was 26. She had no known family history of breast cancer. But she had found a lump in her breast. Before beginning a rigorous program to train as a physician assistant, she wanted to get it checked out. 

Being that young in a waiting room filled with older patients getting routine scans was already unsettling, she said. Then the technician seemed to dismiss her concerns. 

“The tech had ‘Why are you here?’ vibes. Without her explicitly saying that, that’s exactly what she told me. I felt belittled and just weird,” De Armas recalled. “I was like, ‘I have a mass, I feel something on my chest or breast.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, really?’ … It was just really uncomfortable the entire visit.” 

After the scan, a radiologist reviewed it and recommended that De Armas get a biopsy immediately. It was a sharp turn from the technician’s skepticism, De Armas said, adding that she “had a lot of emotions and felt so conflicted” about the experience. 

De Armas made an appointment at Baptist Health’s Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute, which did another scan and biopsy. Four days later, the day before her physician assistant program was set to begin, she learned the lump was malignant. She had breast cancer. 

“Words can’t describe it. It’s just sensory. I was in a paused state, where I was just listening,” De Armas said. “Then the words went through my head, and I felt like I was in go mode. Like, I need to do something about this, because tomorrow, I start PA school. So we need to do something about this.” 

Breast cancer in younger patients 

About one in 10 new breast cancer diagnoses are in women under 45, according to the American Cancer Society’s website, though only about one in 1,344 women are diagnosed in their 20s. Breast cancer incidence rates have also increased by about 1% per year, and there are slightly more new cases being diagnosed in women under 50 than women above 50, the ACS says. 

Young women tend to be diagnosed with breast cancer at a later stage and tend to have “more aggressive” tumors or be diagnosed with rarer disease subtypes, said Dr. Mary Gemignani, the director of the Women’s Early Onset Cancer Program and chief of the Division of Breast Surgery at NYU Langone.

Despite those statistics, some young women still face dismissal, Gemignani said. 

“I’ve seen many women over the years who will give the story that they were told they were too young to have breast cancer,” said Gemignani, who has been seeing patients for over 25 years, in a 2025 interview with CBS News. Gemignani was not involved in De Armas’ care. 

Further testing found De Armas had a genetic mutation associated with increased breast cancer risk. Learning that helped De Armas feel in control as she began treatment. 

“It was a bit of relief, in the sense of understanding where this could have come from, and that there were things out of my control,” De Armas said. “It’s also pretty empowering for my family. People can get the screenings they need and get ahead.” 

Balancing classwork and chemotherapy

De Armas was determined not to let the diagnosis disrupt her life. She had a lumpectomy in early June, a month after her diagnosis, during a break in her school schedule. To balance her program and chemotherapy, she went for treatment at 6:50 a.m., then spent the afternoon in class. She scheduled a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction during winter break. 

Gemignani said it’s not unusual for young women to have “unique needs” when it comes to cancer treatment, since they may be juggling school, work or family obligations with less support or resources than older generations. 

Dr. Cristina Lopez-Penalver, a surgical oncologist at Baptist Health’s Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute who treated De Armas, said the unusual treatment schedule allowed her to stay on track at school while maintaining her health. 

“We worked together as a team,” Lopez-Penalver said. “She was really not about ready to let this breast cancer get in her way.” 

“It’s always in our hands” 

De Armas graduated as a physician assistant in 2025. One month later, she was working in the field. In September, she celebrated her first anniversary at that job. 

Now 30, De Armas says she is cancer-free. The days of surgery and chemotherapy are behind her. But because of the makeup of her cancer, she remains on hormone therapy. The medication put her into temporary menopause, which Gemignani said is another unique concern for young breast cancer patients. She also had to make fertility decisions earlier than she expected. She continues to see her oncologist for regular follow-ups. 

“I’m really lucky. I feel like I’m doing OK,” De Armas said. “It took me a little bit to kind of adjust. It wasn’t immediate; it took time. It took understanding the kind of changes my body was going through. But I’m able to live a pretty normal life for a 30-year-old.” 

De Armas said she hopes sharing her story will inspire others to trust themselves and push for answers when something feels wrong. Being nervous about a scan or medical intervention is “a valid experience,” she said, but someone should “never let the fear of the unknown freak you out.” 

“It’s always in your hands, and you just need to just take the step together with community and people around you,” De Armas said. “Just do what’s in your best interest, always. We’re all human beings. The things we’re genetically predisposed to are out of our control. So to feel empowered, do the things that we know are in our control. It’s a cliché that knowledge is power, but it is so true.”