View source for Mystery:Young Hollywood Breast Cancer Victims

The average age of [[diagnosis]] of [[breast cancer]] is 64 years old.<ref>http://breastcancer.lifetips.com/cat/61849/breast-cancer-diagnosis/</ref>

In the [[Hollywood]] culture, however, there have been many tragic cases of breast cancer at far younger ages than expected:

* Australian soap opera star Belinda Emmett, who played in "Home and Away," was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 24, in 1998.  She died of secondary bone cancer in 2006. <ref>Home and Away actress dies of breast cancer [http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/entertainment/tv/home-and-away-actress-dies-breast-cancer-$457408.htm]</ref>
* American singer Minnie Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 28.  Riperton, the mother of two children, was diagnosed in 1976 and died in 1979. <ref>IMDb: Minnie Riperton[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0727986/]</ref>
* Singer Anastacia was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29.<ref name="abc">http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=1666320&page=1</ref> 
* Colombian-American singer Soraya was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-05-11-soraya-obit_x.htm?csp=27</ref>
* [[British]] Aisha Bicknell, daughter of actress Rita Tushingham, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 33.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/health/2006/08/21/hknack21.xml</ref>
* Puerto Rican actress Adamari López was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 34.<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0529982/bio</ref>
* American actress Ann Jillian was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 35, in 1985.  She had her first child in 1992. <ref>http://www.meredy.com/annjillian/</ref>
* [[British]] actress Amanda Mealing was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 35 in 2002.  She is the mother of two sons, born in 1999 and 2002. <ref name="holby">http://www.holby.tv/db/index.php?id=41,1266,0,0,1,0</ref>
* American actress Christina Applegate diagnosed at age 36. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7539449.stm</ref>
* American actress Danitra Vance was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36.<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0888503/</ref>
* Australian pop star Kylie Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer at age  36.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/17/entertainment/main695716.shtml</ref>
* American actress Oni Faida Lampley was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 37.<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/oni-faida-lampley</ref>
* American actress Kate Jackson was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39.
* American actress Jill Eikenberry was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39.<ref name="holby" />
* American actress Cynthia Nixon was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40.<ref>http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/104294.php</ref><ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0633223/</ref>
* American actress Edie Falco was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40.<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004908/bio</ref>
* Singer Melissa Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 43.<ref name="abc" />
* Norwegian actress and nude model Julie Ege was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 43.<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0250774/bio</ref>
* American actress [[Shirley Temple]] was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 44.<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000073/bio</ref>
* Singer [[Olivia Newton-John]] was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 44.<ref name="abc" />
* Singer [[Sheryl Crow]] was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 44.  She announced her diagnosis in 2006. <ref>Sheryl Crow Battles Breast Cancer[http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=1666320&page=1]</ref>
* Singer [[Carly Simon]] was diagnosed with breast cancer by age 52.<ref>http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/simon%20i%20didnt%20need%20my%20breast%20anymore_1068633</ref>

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== Risk by age ==

Between ages 20 and 24, only 1.3 in 100,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer.<ref>http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071025/LIFESTYLE03/710250424</ref>

Here is the [[NCI]]'s published levels of risk by age in the [[United States]] (the risk is lower in other countries):<ref>http://www.mdanderson.org/topics/ethnicity/display.cfm?id=ffcc95a9-a03d-11d4-80fa00508b603a14&method=displayfull&pn=c1128f6f-4656-410d-96fa274b12a51d9d</ref>

By age 30: 1 in 2,525
<br>By age 35: 1 in 622
<br>By age 40: 1 in 217
<br>By age 45: 1 in 93
<br>By age 50: 1 in 50
<br>By age 55: 1 in 33
<br>By age 60: 1 in 24
<br>By age 65: 1 in 17
<br>By age 70: 1 in 14
<br>By age 75: 1 in 11
<br>By age 80: 1 in 10
<br>By age 85: 1 in 9
<br>Ever: 1 in 8 (more accurately, 1 in 7.5 in the [[U.S.]])

== Analysis ==

Personal health is generally kept confidential, and there are financial reasons for one not to publicize his or her health problems.  The disclosure can cause a loss in jobs or income.  This is particularly true for [[Hollywood]] stars who rely on attractiveness and sex appeal.  Michael J. Fox, for example, understandably kept his [[Parkinson's disease]] confidential for as long as he could.

But cancellation of appearances for health reasons begs explanations, and the population of [[Hollywood]] stars likely to disclose medical conditions will roughly be the size of those who are active in appearances, shows, movies, etc.

A rough estimate of this population is as follows.  In the music world, perhaps there have been 50 women who are active, well-known performers willing to disclose a diagnosis of breast cancer.  In the television and movie industry, perhaps there are 450 who fall into that category.  The total population from which the above names are drawn is perhaps 500, depending on age.

The list of breast cancers above will grow, but already it is plainly way above the expected occurrence of the disease.  For example, there are likely no more than 500 [[Hollywood]] performers under age 30 who would publicly disclose a condition of breast cancer{{fact}}, yet 3 developed breast cancer.  But The typical incidence of that disease is only 2 out of 5000.  The incidence in [[Hollywood]] appears to be more than 10 times that of the general population.  If the population from which the above sample is drawn is twice as high, the incidence in [[Hollywood]] would still be more than 5 times the rate in the general population.

There is likely no more than 1000 in the population of [[Hollywood]] types under age 35 who would have publicly disclose breast cancer.  The list above has 8 cases (and growing).  The expected rate is only 1.5 out of 1000 in that age group.

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== References ==

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[[Category:Mystery]]