01
Breast Health Awareness
Year-round campaigns on campuses by mentors and students that make breast health a normal, open conversation — well beyond Pink October.
Global youth · Local impact
Young women, taking charge of their breast health.
YCBH brings breast health and cancer awareness, education, and early detection to students on campuses worldwide—because science says the years to act are now.
- MD, MS, and PhD
- mentor-led
- 35
- countries · BCYWF network
- 29
- campus chapters
Empowering Today. Protecting Tomorrow. Lasting Impact.
Start early.
Detect early. Save lives.
52.3%
of under-39 cases hit ages 34–39
What we do
Three ways we empower young women
A year-round movement — well beyond Pink October — that makes breast health a normal, open conversation on campus.
02
Breast Cancer Education
Evidence-based knowledge on symptoms, risk factors, and self-care, delivered by guest mentors, breast cancer survivors, and experts.
03
Breast Cancer Prevention
Promoting what's normal for you, timely recognition of changes, adopting lifestyle changes, and early detection to reduce risk and improve outcomes.
Our mission
Protecting the lives of young women on campuses.
YCBH, a global initiative of the Breast Cancer in Young Women Foundation, raises awareness of breast health, early symptoms of breast cancer, and risk factors — promoting prevention and early detection, and sharing global advances toward a future free from breast cancer.
- Breast-health awareness
- Symptoms & risk factors
- Prevention & early detection
- Sharing global advances
A future of hope
Awareness today protects the young women of tomorrow.
Why it matters
Breast cancer is reaching younger women. Timely awareness provides a preventive window.
Once mainly seen as a disease of older women, breast cancer is increasingly diagnosed in young women ages 18-40 — driven by limited awareness, myths about breast cancer, lack of self-breast care, and ignoring modifiable lifestyle factors, among other factors. Most young patients have no family history, and the disease takes years to become clinically detectable, which is exactly why the campus years are the time to act.
Cases in women under 39
World 2022 · n=246,060
<19
0.2%
20–24
2.7%
25–29
13.7%
30–34
31.1%
34–39
52.3%
The majority of cases under 39 cluster in ages 30–39 — during the late campus years and just after — making this a critical and reachable window for awareness. Remember that breast cancer is curable if detected early.
2022
2024
2040
2050
A window for targeted intervention
47.5%
of breast-cancer cases in women under 39 occur in the 20–34 age group
WHO16.4%
occur in the 20–29 age group — during university and early-career years
WHO33.7
years — the projected average age of diagnosis for young women under 39 by 2040
29.9%
of the world's female population in 2022 was aged 15–34
Population Pyramid
Global youth · Local impact
35
Countries in BCYWF network
A growing number of YCBH's campus chapters partner with local NGOs and experts to extend year-round breast health awareness — turning global science into local action beyond Pink October.
- Asia
- 12
- North America
- 3
- South America
- 2
- Europe
- 11
- Africa
- 6
- Oceania
- 1
The 2040 Initiative
A global mission to end breast cancer in young women
First Circle BCYW Awareness is built on a simple but powerful idea: awareness begins with those around us and those we engage with every day.
Discover the Initiative
Start early. Detect early. Save lives.
Prof. Aaron Ciechanover
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
Scientific Advisor, BCYW Foundation
Lawrence J. DeLucas
U.S. Astronaut
Global Ambassador, BCYW Foundation
Awareness begins with those around us and those we engage with every day.
YCBH News
Updates from the YCBH and BCYWF
Conferences, chapter launches and research milestones from across the network.
AwarenessJuly 9, 2026
Risk-Reducing Mastectomy in Young Women: Myths, Benefits, and Limits
To address the gaps in breast health awareness, the BCYW Foundation has released a new awareness article by experts that clarifies why risk-reducing mastectomy in young women shouldn't be seen as a universal safety measure, a guarantee against breast cancer, or a general precaution for most young women.
AwarenessJuly 7, 2026
Breast Cancer in Young Women Is Biologically Different — and Treatment Must Reflect That Reality
To address the gaps in breast health awareness, the BCYW Foundation has released two new awareness LinkedIn articles by experts highlighting a critical message for patients, families, clinicians, researchers, and breast health advocates: breast cancer in young women is not simply the same disease as that seen earlier in life.
AwarenessJuly 2, 2026
New BCYW Foundation's Expert Articles Clarify Breast Density and Breast Imaging Myths for Young Women
The Breast Cancer in Young Women Foundation has released two articles addressing common myths about breast density and breast imaging in young women. Expert-led articles explain why dense breasts, mammograms, ultrasound, MRI, family history, and breast symptoms should be understood with medical context—not fear, confusion, or false reassurance.
Bring YCBH to your campus.
Start a chapter and lead breast-health awareness where it matters most — among the young women around you. The BCYW Foundation will help you every step of the way.