ShyGuyInChicago
January 20th, 2011, 06:58 PM
http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/01/20/toddler-aleisha-hunter-among-youngest-to-survive-breast-cancer/?icid=maing|main5|dl7|sec1_lnk3|37793
Two years ago, Aleisha Hunter got breast cancer, making her one of the nearly 300,000 new annual cases to surface.
The difference? Aleisha was a 2-and-a-half-year-old toddler when the small lump developed in her chest. Doctors diagnosed her with juvenile breast carcinoma when she was only 3.
Surgical oncologist Nancy Down of North York General Hospital in Ontario, Canada, who operated on the little girl, tells the "Today" show that Aleisha's cancer was a form usually found in children -- and highly uncommon.
"You can see this type of breast cancer in adults, but it is one of the more rare types of breast cancer," she says. "This one tends to be slower growing, tends not to spread as aggressively, and the outlook is good."
About 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer over the course of their lifetimes, according to breastcancer.org. More than 200,000 women develop the disease each year and more than 40,000 succumb to it over the same time period, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority diagnosed with breast cancer are over the age of 50, with "getting older" considered one of the biggest risk factors for the illness.
Aleisha was one of the few exceptions. Dr. Rachel Egler, a pediatric oncologist at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, tells AOL Health that breast cancer is typically not seen in toddlers. When children get it at all, she explains, they tend to be adolescents.
Watch Aleisha on the "Today" show.
"It's much less common to see it in a child as young as 3," says Egler, whose practice is part of University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "Even in adolescents, if we feel a lump, it's not likely to be breast cancer; it's likely to be benign. The most common kind girls get are these juvenile breast carcinomas."
Over time, little Aleisha's tumor became very painful. Her mom, Melanie, says her daughter "wasn't eating, she wasn't sleeping." So doctors performed what is called a radical modified mastectomy, in which they removed the little girl's entire breast and the lymph nodes under her arm. Her mom, and her teddy bear, stayed by her side at the hospital.
"It's hard to imagine a mastectomy in a 3-year-old," Egler says. "But these are definitely treated with surgery. In terms of doing a complete mastectomy, I suspect that it comes from the fact that there's so little breast tissue in a 3-year-old that it might have been the default."
In the six months since the operation, Aleisha, now 4, is in remission and her prognosis is promising. Egler says the fact that her tumor was localized and surgically removed are positive signs for the future.
"Most won't come back," she tells AOL Health. "The survival rate is 70 to 80 percent."
Still, the child remembers the ordeal, and seems to understand what she went through.
"I had breast cancer," she tells "Today" quietly. Her mom says she'll need reconstructive surgery when she gets older.
Aleisha is one of more than 10,000 children diagnosed with cancer each year. Melanie Hunter hopes that coming forward with their story will raise awareness about the illness and help other parents and children suffering through it.
Today, Aleisha is back in preschool, playing and learning like any other girl her age.
"She's extremely brave and she's extremely strong," says her mom. "She's happy. She's a bubbly little 4-year-old."
I was shocked when I hard this. I never heard of breast cancer developing at such a young age. This girl is lucky to survive.
Two years ago, Aleisha Hunter got breast cancer, making her one of the nearly 300,000 new annual cases to surface.
The difference? Aleisha was a 2-and-a-half-year-old toddler when the small lump developed in her chest. Doctors diagnosed her with juvenile breast carcinoma when she was only 3.
Surgical oncologist Nancy Down of North York General Hospital in Ontario, Canada, who operated on the little girl, tells the "Today" show that Aleisha's cancer was a form usually found in children -- and highly uncommon.
"You can see this type of breast cancer in adults, but it is one of the more rare types of breast cancer," she says. "This one tends to be slower growing, tends not to spread as aggressively, and the outlook is good."
About 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer over the course of their lifetimes, according to breastcancer.org. More than 200,000 women develop the disease each year and more than 40,000 succumb to it over the same time period, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority diagnosed with breast cancer are over the age of 50, with "getting older" considered one of the biggest risk factors for the illness.
Aleisha was one of the few exceptions. Dr. Rachel Egler, a pediatric oncologist at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, tells AOL Health that breast cancer is typically not seen in toddlers. When children get it at all, she explains, they tend to be adolescents.
Watch Aleisha on the "Today" show.
"It's much less common to see it in a child as young as 3," says Egler, whose practice is part of University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "Even in adolescents, if we feel a lump, it's not likely to be breast cancer; it's likely to be benign. The most common kind girls get are these juvenile breast carcinomas."
Over time, little Aleisha's tumor became very painful. Her mom, Melanie, says her daughter "wasn't eating, she wasn't sleeping." So doctors performed what is called a radical modified mastectomy, in which they removed the little girl's entire breast and the lymph nodes under her arm. Her mom, and her teddy bear, stayed by her side at the hospital.
"It's hard to imagine a mastectomy in a 3-year-old," Egler says. "But these are definitely treated with surgery. In terms of doing a complete mastectomy, I suspect that it comes from the fact that there's so little breast tissue in a 3-year-old that it might have been the default."
In the six months since the operation, Aleisha, now 4, is in remission and her prognosis is promising. Egler says the fact that her tumor was localized and surgically removed are positive signs for the future.
"Most won't come back," she tells AOL Health. "The survival rate is 70 to 80 percent."
Still, the child remembers the ordeal, and seems to understand what she went through.
"I had breast cancer," she tells "Today" quietly. Her mom says she'll need reconstructive surgery when she gets older.
Aleisha is one of more than 10,000 children diagnosed with cancer each year. Melanie Hunter hopes that coming forward with their story will raise awareness about the illness and help other parents and children suffering through it.
Today, Aleisha is back in preschool, playing and learning like any other girl her age.
"She's extremely brave and she's extremely strong," says her mom. "She's happy. She's a bubbly little 4-year-old."
I was shocked when I hard this. I never heard of breast cancer developing at such a young age. This girl is lucky to survive.