Mandakini Gupta, New Delhi: Twenty five per cent of breast cancer patients worldwide are below the age of 50.

It's a disease that's catching up, even with India's urban young women.

Ambitious, professionally driven, and determined to get ahead at any cost – that's the new urban Indian woman.

But over the last decade, the high stress lifestyle – where domestic decisions are put on the back burner – has triggered the female body to revolt from within, by throwing the hormonal balance out of gear.

"What pregnancy and lactation do is protect the breast from the harmful effects of estrogen," said Apollo Oncologist Dr Sameer Kaul.

Mamta Sinha was only 37 when she discovered she had breast cancer.

"At this stage I know it's not curable but at least I can try to control it. Then I can maybe live like a normal human being," said the breast cancer survivor Mamta.

In India, 61 per cent cases of cancer are young Indians between 35 and 50.

Out of them, 50 per cent women visit the doctor in advanced stages. As a result 35 thousand women die every year.

Ten years ago, breast cancer was the third most common cancer. It is now the number one killer cancer.

The hormonal imbalance, resulting in cancer, can be caused by several factors. Some of the known risk factors are:

• Hereditory reasons
• Having first child after 35
• Not breast feeding for at least 6 months
• High stress lifestyle
• Fatty diet, high alcohol intake or smoking

Cancer is a complex disease and almost impossible to predict. So it is impossible to categorically state that every woman who has risk factors will ultimately get breast cancer.

Also do the Breast Self Exam every month.