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It has been well established in the literature that young women tend to carry more aggressive subtypes of breast cancer than their older-aged counterparts. The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics and outcomes of young women with breast cancer. In this retrospective analysis, data were collected for women under the age of 40 years who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2008 and 2018 in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Specifically, data were collected on demographics, staging, pathological characteristics, treatment, and survival outcomes for young women with this disease. Results demonstrate that most of these women were diagnosed between the age of 35 and 39 years (91.2%). Most women presented with early-stage disease (stage I and II-66.4%), while 24% were stage III and 9.6% presented with stage IV metastatic disease. The prevalence of hormone-receptor-positive disease represented 41.9% of the cohort, with triple-negative and HER2+ measuring 27.7% and 30.4%, respectively. Five-year disease-free survival was 80.5% and overall survival was 82.7%. These findings provoke discussion regarding the intersecting roles of genetics, environment, and lifestyle in a region with some of the highest rates of malignancy in the country.

Background: To study and update the provincial incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), a province of Canada with a very high incidence previously reported in 2006, and one of the highest incidences reported worldwide. This is a retrospective time trend study of the incidence of T1DM, in children aged 0-14 years from 1987-2010 inclusive., Findings: Over the study period 931 children aged 0-14 years were diagnosed with T1DM. The incidence of T1DM in this population over the period 1987 - 2010 inclusive was 37.7 per 100,000 per year (95% CI 35. 3, 40.2)The incidence from 2007-2010 was 49.9 per 100,000 per year (95% CI 42.2, 57.6). The incidence over this 24 year period increased by a factor of 1.03 per 100,000 per year., Conclusion: NL has one of the highest incidences of T1DM reported worldwide. Potential reasons for the very high incidence could be related to the unique genetic background of the population, northern latitude and vitamin D insufficiency, low breastfeeding rates, and high rates of cesarean section.