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Bertha Alejandra Martinez-Cannon,1,2,* Regina Barragan-Carrillo,1,2,* Cynthia Villarreal-Garza2,3 1Hematology-Oncology Department, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Mexico City, Mexico; 2Joven & Fuerte: Programa para la Atencion e Investigacion de Mujeres Jovenes con Cancer de Mama en Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico; 3Breast Cancer Center, Hospital Zambrano Hellion TecSalud, Tecnologico de Monterrey, San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon, Mexico*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Bertha Alejandra Martinez-CannonHematology-Oncology Department, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Vasco de Quiroga 15, Belisario Dominguez Secc 16, Tlalpan, Mexico City, 14080, MexicoTel +52 55 5487 0900Email amtzcannon@gmail.comAbstract: Young women with breast cancer (YWBC) account for a variable proportion of patients diagnosed with breast cancer around the globe, with a higher prevalence in resource-limited settings than in high-income countries. This group represents a unique population that warrants special attention due to specific biological considerations and age-specific supportive care issues. This review aims to explore existing knowledge regarding YWBC’s needs, particularly in resource-restricted settings. To date, scarce information regarding the care of YWBC in resource-constrained countries is available, with most reports describing suboptimal care in terms of survivorship needs. Health care providers should implement actions to improve endocrine treatment adherence, referrals for fertility counseling and preservation, contraceptive use compliance, timely body image and sexual function interventions, comprehensive genetic risk assessments, and early quality of life and psychosocial health interventions. While high costs act as a barrier for optimal care in resource-limited settings, improving patient education represents a promising and cost-effective solution to improve patient care. Future research on developing tailored educational resources for YWBC in resource-limited settings should be considered a priority.Keywords: breast cancer, young women, unmet needs, disparities, resource-limited settings, low- and middle-income countries

Bertha Alejandra Martinez-Cannon,1,2 Andrea Castro-Sanchez,2 Regina Barragan-Carrillo,2 Sylvia de la Rosa Pacheco,1 Alejandra Platas,2,3 Alan Fonseca,2,3 Yoatzin Vega,2 Karen Bojorquez-Velazquez,3 Juan Enrique Bargallo-Rocha,2,3 Alejandro Mohar,3,4 Cynthia Villarreal-Garza1,2 1Breast Cancer Center, Hospital Zambrano Hellion TecSalud, Tecnologico de Monterrey, San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico; 2Joven & Fuerte: Programa para la Atencion e Investigacion de Mujeres Jovenes con Cancer de Mama, Mexico City, Mexico; 3Departamento de Investigacion y de Tumores Mamarios, Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia, Mexico City, Mexico; 4Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, MexicoCorrespondence: Cynthia Villarreal-GarzaBreast Cancer Center, Hospital Zambrano Hellion TecSalud, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Av. Batallon de San Patricio 112, Real San Agustin, 66278, San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon, MexicoEmail cynthiavg@gmail.comBackground: Breast cancer (BC) in young women is characterized by an unfavorable prognosis in hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative tumors, which may be explained by low rates of tamoxifen adherence. In Mexico, up to 14% of all BC diagnoses occur in young women and no data on tamoxifen adherence has been reported.Objective: To estimate the rate of adherence to adjuvant tamoxifen in Mexican young women with BC (YWBC).Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the National Cancer Institute in Mexico City, among YWBC (≤ 40 years at diagnosis) receiving adjuvant tamoxifen. Adherence was measured subjectively, through self-reported surveys, and objectively, through medication possession ratio (MPR). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze sociodemographic characteristics. To compare associations between patients’ characteristics and adherence, Chi-square test was used for categorical variables and Student’s t-test or Mann–Whitney U-test for quantitative variables.Results: A total of 141 YWBC receiving adjuvant tamoxifen were included. Regarding subjective adherence, 95% expressed taking tamoxifen regularly, 70% reported missing 0 doses in the past 30 days, and 71.6% reported having adverse effects. Regarding objective adherence, 74.8% of patients had an MPR ≥ 80%. The association between subjective and objective adherence was statistically significant (p = 0.004). Subjective adherence was associated with not skipping tamoxifen doses when feeling worse. Objective adherence was associated with having a stable job, not skipping tamoxifen doses when feeling worse, taking additional medications, and time on tamoxifen treatment. Fifty-six percent considered the information on tamoxifen to be insufficient and 37% not understandable.Conclusion: In our study, high subjective and objective adherence rates to adjuvant tamoxifen were reported, although an important proportion of women reported high rates of adverse effects and not fully understanding the benefits of tamoxifen. Strategies to increase tamoxifen adherence may be even more important now that longer durations of treatment or further ovarian function suppression have become the standard of care in YWBC.Keywords: young women, breast cancer, tamoxifen, adherence, Mexico