Experience of Southern Chinese: New Challenges in Treating Young Female Breast Cancer Patients at Child-bearing Age - a Call for Multi-disciplinary Collaboration

Abstract

Compared with western populations, Southern Chinese, especially those residing in Hong Kong, areexperiencing increasing breast cancer incidence and also a younger onset of breast cancer. Combating thisproblem and treating young women with breast cancer poses specific challenges and complicated considerations.With reference to the postponement in the age of marriage and reproduction in modern societies, the issue offertility after breast cancer, especially for high-risk young patients, is one significant quality of life concern thatcannot be underestimated as a secondary medical topic. While the issue has its significance and is confrontingfront-line breast cancer care teams of different disciplines, related research is mostly on Caucasians. In cultureswhere the traditional expectation on women for child-bearing is still prominent, young breast cancer patients mayendure significant distress over fertility options after breast cancer. There is a lack of related data on Asian breastcancer survivors at child-bearing age, which calls for a pressing need to encourage qualitative groundwork, casereports, and cohort experiences in hope for providing insight and arouse research interest. In order to providea long-term comprehensive multidisciplinary management service with encouragement to encompass prospectsfor a positive future among young breast cancer survivors, relevant disciplines need to collaborate and workefficaciously together both on clinical and research aspects of cancer-related fertility issues.