At age 35, Chrissy Amitrano of Lake Ronkonkoma was incredulous — and symptom-free and pain-free — when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She’d just gone in for a precautionary mammogram ultrasound.

"It was very shocking," said Amitrano, now 40. "I thought I was living a healthy lifestyle. I had no reason to believe that I had breast cancer. I didn’t feel a lump. I didn’t feel sick, anything like that. ... was very scared and worried."

Amitrano, whose Stage 2 cancer is gone (the term "in remission" is seldom used anymore, her oncologist said) after chemotherapy, surgeries, radiation, more chemo, a clinical trial and a hormone-blocking pill, is among a growing number of women who are developing breast cancer at a younger age. And there’s no clear reason why.

The Centers for Disease C

See Full Page