Well, doctors are urging women who may be at high risk for breast cancer to schedule a screening after a new report from the American Cancer Society found breast cancer rates are rising in the US and even more sharply among younger women.

Rates increased 1% each year from 2012 to 2021.

And that may not sound like a large number, but it means one in every 50 women will develop invasive breast cancer by the age of 50.

That's according to the authors of the report.

The steepest jump is for young women in their twenties, whose rate jumped by more than 2% each year.

Alanna Vizzoni can attest to that.

The Hoboken resident was diagnosed last year with stage two breast cancer at the age of 27.

Now she's using her social media accounts as a platform to spread the word and she joins me now.

Alanna, it's so great to have you here.

And we should note you are in remission.

Yes, technically, yes.

So did you have any signs or symptoms?

What made you go get screened in the first place when you're so young?

Yeah, well, actually, my boyfriend found the lump, which is typical for women my age, because we're not doing self-exams.

We're not getting screened.

So my fiance now found it, and I didn't you know, I just thought there was no world where it was a possibility for me.

So I kind of put it on the backburner for a month or so.

I finally got it checked out by my gyno, and she thought it was just a fibroadenoma, which is just like a benign breast lump.

But then I just felt like something was wrong.

I, i a month later, I just was like, I need to get this checked out again.

So your intuition kicked in there?

Yeah, it was just like a mental awareness, really.

Like I could not get it out of my head.

So I got it checked and it was breast cancer.

I'll never forget the call.

What was that like when you were diagnosed?

It was like, first of all, I just it was such an unfamiliar territory.

So I heard the word and really thought like my life was over first.

First and foremost, it was just like a complete shock.

I felt like the like my life as I knew it was just over.

After I got, like, my appointment with my surgical oncologist and I learned more about how how far medicine has come, I was more comfortable, I guess.

But still, I was just in shock that this was happening to me.

And it was even like a possibility.

Because when you say that you're an otherwise healthy.

I was in the best shape of my life.

Yeah.

Like, and was there any family history where this did even be an inkling in your mind?

No, I think that was another thing that I was just like, There's no way.

Cancer in general was something I was unfamiliar with, let alone breast cancer.

So it was just like, I can't even explain, like the kind of like fog that went over me when I heard the news because it was just like, Am I dreaming?

Yeah, it doesn't seem real.

So then you go on your TikTok, on your social media as you're going through your journey.

That's a pretty vulnerable thing to do.

Why did you decide to go public with something like this, something so personal?

I think I saw that the first video I posted about it was on TikTok maybe a week after I found out.

And I think it was because mostly I felt like if it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone.

And I needed to share that.

It was the rates were rising.

It was in the realm of possibility, because I think if I had waited any longer, it would have progressed and my diagnosis, my prognosis would have been way worse.

So I felt like I needed to share with people that this is possible.

It's it is happening.

And it happened to me.

Right.

I mean, you went through chemo.

How many rounds?

Eight.

Eight rounds?

Yeah.

That takes a big toll on you.

What do you want other young women to know?

I mean, what's your message?

I think for people that are diagnosed have breast cancer, I wanted to share my journey with them, to remind them that, like you aren't what happened to you.

You still are.

You.

You really are.

Like, it's not what happened to you.

It's how you react to it.

So just because you know you got a horrible diagnosis or whatever it may be, you don't have to lose yourself in that because that's what I was really worried about.

But for women that have not been diagnosed yet, I just wanted to show them that this is happening.

I wanted to put a face to it.

So it's not just a blank statistic.

Real people are being affected by this.

And not to be scary, but it could be it could happen to you if it could happen to me, which, you know, that was really important for me to to share.

Because when I first found my lump, I put it off for maybe two months because I was just like, There's no way.

So.

Well, Alanna, we wish you the best of luck with your health.

Thank you for sharing with us.

And good luck from here on out.

You've got a whole life ahead of you.

Thank you so much.