• U.S.

8-Year-Old Utah Girl Diagnosed With Rare Breast Cancer

1 minute read

An 8-year-old girl in Centerville, Utah, has been diagnosed with secretory carcinoma, a rare type of breast cancer, making her one of the youngest ever to receive a breast cancer diagnosis.

Chrissy Turner found a lump in her chest last month, The Guardian reports. The news came as a shock not only due to her age, but also the fact that both her parents are cancer survivors. Annette Turner suffered from cervical cancer while her husband currently battles a Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma relapse.

Chrissy’s secretory carcinoma diagnosis accounts for only 0.15% of breast cancers and is “very treatable,” Chrissy Turner’s doctor Brian Bucher told the paper.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses. She will undergo a mastectomy in early December.

“I was scared to figure out what it was,” she told ABC TV in an interview. “But I knew I could fight it off and I hope that I can fight it off.”

 

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com