“It doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter how healthy you are.”
That’s a tough realization for the increasing number of young people diagnosed with cancer. The numbers were so surprising and concerning that the WRAL Documentary team did some digging – to ask doctors what’s behind this trend, and what new treatments offer hope, and to hear the stories of those facing and overcoming cancer.
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Hope Reynolds was 21, a college senior when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
There was no history of the disease in her family, and genetic testing showed no signs of hereditary markers. Still, she had to put her life – her studies, competitive swimming – on pause.
She remembers thinking, “I don't have time for this.”
Reynolds noticed changes in her body while she was in the locker room.
“We kind of made fun of it. We were like, ‘oh my God, that's so weird.’ I kind of ignored it for a couple of months and then ended up just getting really sick towards the end of August,” she said.
Reynolds was experiencing headaches, having trouble eating,and she tried to make light of the situation in a phone call home. Her mother, worried, suggested a self breast exam.
“She asked if I had done a self-exam, which I had never done before because I was 21 at the time and didn't think that was something you even had to do that young,” Reynolds said.
She found a lump.
When Reynolds’ primary care doctor recommended a mammogram, she was initially denied, because she was so young. Instead, her doctor ordered an ultrasound.
Reynolds says, “I still remember the person who read my ultrasound came in and said that she saw something that was concerning, but the odds of it being cancer were so low because of my age. So again, I left that appointment feeling reassured that it wasn't anything too serious.”
Still, Reynolds’ doctor asked for a biopsy.
“That was when I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer,” she recalls. “It was invasive ductal carcinoma, and it had already spread to one of the lymph nodes on my right side. That was September 14, 2020.”
Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common type of breast cancer, accounting for more than half of all breast cancer cases in the United States. In 2024, an estimated 16% of new invasive breast cancer cases in the U.S. were diagnosed in women under the age of 50.
Reynolds was overwhelmed.
She says, “I was beginning my senior year of undergrad, I was applying to PT schools. I was a swimmer in college, so we were just starting our swim season and just managing all of that in and of itself took all of my time and energy, so I just couldn't imagine how to keep doing all of that and then also go through cancer treatment.”
She had to leave college in Michigan and go home to Pennsylvania for chemotherapy, surgeries and radiation treatment. In one way, her age and resilience were an advantage. “Because of my age,” she says, “I was able to get chemo every other week instead of getting it every three weeks or any variation like that.”
The worst part, a common chemo side effect, was when Reynolds lost her hair.
“I loved having my long hair,” she says. “I didn't want to accept that it was real, but when I had to cut my hair and then as my hair started to fall out, like there was no way to ignore it anymore.”
After her treatments were complete, Reynolds faced a secondary, emotional battle.
“Looking back on it, the hardest part for me has been life after cancer. The hardest part for me has been learning to trust my body again, because I don't understand and there'll never be any reason as to why I got it so young,” she says.
Before her diagnosis, Reynolds was a college athlete. Now, she works for Duke Health as a physical therapist.
“Health has always been something I've been very passionate about for myself,” she says.
“I don't have anything that I can attribute this to because I did try my best, at least to take care of my body as much as I could.”
Cancer doesn’t run in Reynolds’ family, and genetic testing found no connection.
“I've heard all about things like plastic in the environment, hormones, makeup, food, stress, all of that stuff,” she says. “I find it interesting to learn about, but I don't know if I'll ever really know why I got it at 21.”
Reynolds was often the youngest person in the room when she went for her chemotherapy treatments.
“Most of the people there were in their 60s, 70s, 80s and above,” she recalls. “I stood out. Really, really obviously I stood out.”
In addition to research into the causes, Reynolds says young cancer patients need support and the message of her first name: Hope.
“I just think it's really sad, that it is getting younger,” she says.
“I love that they're researching the increasing rates because it also increases awareness of these lapses in support and lapses in research, including this age group.”
She points out that young adults are making many decisions about their future, “things like fertility, dating, sexual health, nutrition, financial status,” she says, and a cancer diagnosis complicates them all.
Four years cancer-free, Reynolds is feeling healthy, running four or five days a week and again prioritizing her health – both mental and physical.
“It feels good to me to stay active and healthy,” she says.
Her cancer experience has also made her a better health care provider.
“Everything that I went through, it helped me learn so much about what it's like on the patient side of things,” she says. “I want to practice with empathy and I want to be able to put myself in my patient's shoes.”
Diagnosis: Young. The New Face of Cancer in NC
"Diagnosis: Young. The New Face of Cancer in NC" is the latest investigative documentary from the WRAL Doc unit, exploring the alarming trend of cancer striking younger adults in North Carolina and across the nation. The documentary follows three North Carolinians in their 20s and 30s who never expected a cancer diagnosis so early in life. Behind every personal story is the big question: Why is this happening?
Diagnosis: Young is available on WRAL’s streaming platforms and WRAL’s YouTube channel. It will also air on FOX 50 on Sunday, June 29, at 1 p.m. and on WILM on Sunday, June 29, at 6 p.m.