Three young mothers report delayed breast cancer diagnoses

Three young mothers told Yle’s MOT that they waited months for diagnoses of aggressive breast cancer. Two have incurable cancer, the programme reported after reviewing their medical statements.

Julia, whose surname Yle withheld to protect her privacy, first felt a small, sharp lump in her armpit in April 2025. A doctor referred her for imaging, where a radiologist identified several lumps and assessed them as fibroadenomas, benign growths common among young women.

Eight months after her first symptoms, an ultrasound and biopsies revealed that Julia had aggressive triple-negative breast cancer, which had spread to lymph nodes in her armpit. The cancer had grown considerably during the delay.

During the summer, Julia said the lumps grew, became painful and interfered with movement. She tried several times to get another doctor’s appointment but was turned away because she had already been diagnosed with benign growths. She was eventually placed in a queue under Finland’s care guarantee, where an appointment must be offered within three months. Julia said she was told there was no reason to worry because she was young and in good health.

“Nobody believed me or listened to me,” she said.

Outi Kuittinen, an oncology professor at the University of Eastern Finland who studies access to cancer care, said extending the care guarantee from two weeks to three months was a serious mistake. If a health centre does not suspect cancer, a patient may be placed in a non-urgent queue, she said. “Three months is a catastrophe for many cancers if that one phone conversation puts you in the wrong category.”

Päivi Auvinen, chief physician at the cancer centre of Kuopio University Hospital, said diagnoses of breast cancer in young women can sometimes be delayed because the disease is less common in this group and may not be considered first. Dense breast tissue can also make cancer harder to detect.

According to the Finnish Cancer Registry, breast cancer diagnoses among people under 40 have increased by an average of 2 per cent a year. Rates have not risen among people aged 40 to 50. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among working-age women.

Finland, unlike the other Nordic countries, does not have a national cancer-care quality register collecting information on the spread of cancer, the quality of treatment and hospital outcomes. Experts say nationwide data would help identify and address delays.

MOT has previously reported that patients in Finland die sooner than patients in other Nordic countries from around 20 types of cancer. For breast cancer, however, survival prospects are at the same level as elsewhere in the Nordic region.