A MUM has revealed how she discovered her little girl had breast cancer, being one of the youngest ever children to develop the condition.
The youngster, now 7, started showing signs when she was just five-years-old, her mum said.
Jam PressA mum in Chile has revealed that her seven-year-old daughter has been diagnosed with breast cancer[/caption]
Jam PressThe child first started to experience symptoms when she was just five-years-old, the mum said[/caption]
Following the shocking diagnosis, the little girl underwent an operation to remove her affected breast and prevent the cancerous tumour from spreading to other parts of the body.
Breast cancer is uncommon in children and it’s mostly found in women who are 50-years and older, the NHS states.
Commonly, symptoms include a new lump or thickened tissue and changes in the shape or size of the breast.
The Chilean mum was surprised to find a lump on her little one and said her daughter is struggling to understand the situation.
“While drying her and putting on cream, I noticed a little lump under her nipple,” the mum from Chile said.
“The doctor told me that this was not normal and that it would grow if it was left for a long time, but he never told me it would come to this.
“My daughter is now mutilated and that is the pain I have to live with.”
Paediatric haematologist and oncologist Francisco Barriga said a case of a child under 7 years of age with the illness is completely anecdotal.
Felipe Tagle, president of the Chilean Association of Cancer Patients, said that many doctors did not want to take the case on initially because of its uniqueness.
The family is currently waiting for test results to find out if the tumour had started to spread to other parts of the body.
Her mother said: “My daughter is now mutilated and that is the pain I have to live with.”
She said her young daughter does not yet fully understand the magnitude of her diagnosis and ongoing treatment.
The signs of breast cancer to look out for
The National Cancer Institute (NC) in the US states that childhood breast cancer is usually treated with radiation therapy.
Medics said that the signs in children are no different from those seen in an adult.
Guidance from the NIC state that you should check with your child’s doctor if you little one is suffering with any of the below:
A lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area.
A change in the size or shape of the breast.
A dimple or puckering in the skin of the breast.
A nipple turned inward into the breast.
Fluid, other than breast milk, from the nipples, including blood.
Scaly, red, or swollen skin on the breast, nipple, or areola (the dark area of skin that is around the nipple).
Dimples in the breast that look like the skin of an orange, called peau d’orange.
The mum added: “The only thing she mentions to me when I take her to the oncologist is that she doesn’t want to be bald.
“Beyond that, she doesn’t understand that she has lost her breast.”
She said she fears how her daughter will feel about her body as she gets older.
If the girl’s diagnosis does not improve, the family said they will visit specialists in Barcelona, Spain, with more experience in treating young cancer patients.
Cases of children this young developing breast cancer are rare.
It was revealed that a four-year-old girl had developed the illness in Canada.
Her mum said she had been struggling with a lump for 15 months before finally getting a diagnosis.
In 2015, an eight-year-old girl in Utah, US, Chrissy Turner, was also diagnosed after finding a lump.
In the UK if a child develops symptoms of breast cancer the they will be seen by the paediatric and adolescent breast service.