Sign in to wowOwow

Enter the email address that you used when registering at wowOwow.
The password field is case sensitive. Click here if you have forgotten your password.

Please register for wowOwow

Newsletter subscriptions
Sign up to receive wowOwow's weekly newsletter and get our best picks delivered right to your inbox. Our newsletter content is hand-picked by the wowOwow editorial team and provides the top features, news, and commentary from our site. Subscribing to our newsletter is free and safe. We will never share your email or other information with a third-party without your direct consent.
By registering, you indicate that you have read and agree
with our privacy policy and terms of service.
Home › Relationships

Fifth Grader Fights Breast Cancer | 05/19/2009 9:25 am

10-Year-Old Hannah Powell-Auslam Battles Breast Cancer

Hannah Powell-Auslam, a fifth grader in Southern California, was told in April that she has cancer in her breast
By The Staff at wowOwow.com
Hannah on ABC News

10-year-old Hannah Powell-Auslam’s parents were shocked when they heard their daughter has breast cancer. 

"It should be the furthest thing from your mind," Hannah’s mother Carrie Auslam told reporters from KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, ABC News reports. "Ten-year-olds don’t get breast cancer."

She’s right. While one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, they’ll mostly be over the age of 50.

The Southern California fifth grader learned in April that she had breast cancer. On May 7, she bravely underwent surgery to remove one of her breasts. And she will likely need chemotherapy treatment to reduce the chances that the cancer will spread or recur, ABC News reports.

While Hannah maintains a brave face, she told reporters that she just wants to go back to school and live a "normal" childhood.

You can follow Hannah and her family’s heart-wrenching battle with breast cancer on www.ourlittlesweetpea.com. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.

Read more about: Breast Cancer, Hannah Powell-Auslam, Health, Medicine, News, Parenting, Science

53 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Mary Utrup
That’s about the most unbelievable thing I’ve heard ever! Cancer truly is a plague on the earth. My heart and my prayers go out to Hannah and her family.
By Mary Utrup on 05/19/2009 9:40 am
Sherry Dale
This is heart-breaking, I NEVER thought a small child could get breast cancer.  I hope this isn’t a new a trend.  Hannah keep your chin up, we’re praying for you and your family :-)
By Sherry Dale on 05/19/2009 10:00 am
L. C.

My heart goes out to the child and her family.  I have never heard of such a young victim.

Does obsesity have play a role? … This little  girl from the photograph appears to be obese. I would like to know what are some of the factors that could have contributed to her condition.

By L. C. on 05/19/2009 10:20 am
aud b
I have heard that excessive wieght contributes to early puberty.  But in retrospect, girls are maturing physically younger and younger regardless of wieght.  My cousin was 10 when she got her period and she was a little thing.  Maybe the extra wieght indirectly had a factor.. i mean this by the extra weight set off the early putberty and the early puberty had a direct factor in the cancer?  But who knows, I am not a doctor.  The one thing in this girls favor is that she is young and healthy.
By aud b on 05/19/2009 11:01 am
Andrea Brandon

Open this website and then scroll about 2/3 of the way down to the section entitled: "Breast Cancer in Children."

http://www.eapsa.org/parents/resources/breast_disorders.cfm

Causes unknown. Boys are not immune from this either. Odds of being diagnosed with this are extremely low.

By Andrea Brandon on 05/19/2009 3:46 pm
DeBúrca obj
Hmmm… hormones in our milk and meat supply. I also hear that girls are physically maturing much faster too. This really should be a story about WHY.
By DeBúrca obj on 05/19/2009 12:08 pm
Andrea Brandon

Definitely would like a story on etiology, although I just did  a little research and keep getting "etiology unknown."

I did come across skin cancer in children under age 15 and transplants or faulty immune systems seem to be a common finding in about half of the kids diagnosed. [But their prognosis is better than for adults.]

Over 8500 kids a year diagnosed with cancer in the US. " The overall incidence rate for childhood cancers has increased significantly by almost 33% during the period 1975 to 2001 (1), although, in more recent years, the rate has been leveling off. "  [I’m thinking that technology improvements catch more nowadays, which possibly explains the increase.]

Check out the link:    http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/13/10/1552

 

 

By Andrea Brandon on 05/19/2009 3:58 pm
frances roehm
I was thinking the same thing while scrolling down and saw your comment. There are so many unintended consequences when it comes to the american diet and the chemicals we use in our daily lives. There was an article in the news last year about the effects of lavendar in baby soap. It seems that it has a phyto ester much like estrogen and effects baby boys breast tissue and retards the growth of male genitalia. Very scary. A young woman I know, 21 years old has developed colon cancer because of her daily burger intake that has gone on since her early teens. She is now on chemo. Her doc’s have told her no more burgers.
By frances roehm on 05/20/2009 7:50 pm
A Amedee
Yap! Hormones in our foods! Why should a ten year old have breast cancer? Our foods are poison
By A Amedee on 05/21/2009 6:32 am
Dora M
Ugh!  THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR POINTING THIS OUT!  I’m always taken back by the type of rationale that insinuates that because someone is overweight they have brought on their problems and to hear that about a 10 year old child just made me a little ill.  If I’m being hypersensitive or something, pardon me people, but this child is an innocent and to be facing what she’s facing at her age is just too much for me to absorb right now.
By Dora M on 05/21/2009 11:25 pm
Trina O

I agree, and I heard the same thing. My father was in a shopping mall one day and was appalled at the size of the young girls’ chests. He couldn’t believe it, and they weren’t necessarily overweight, just unproportioned. He wondered why as well, and brought up the hormone theory.

 

By Trina O on 05/25/2009 3:57 pm
C Hardy

Men get breast cancer so why not anyone of any age?  I truly hope this little lady can overcome her battle and live a long, healthy life. 

By C Hardy on 05/19/2009 12:20 pm
Chris Glass`

It would be interesting to see if there is a link between fast food and premature development. Those of us raised in the 50’s and 60’s ate far less take out. Our development came four to five years later than children today.

I can’t help but think that the hormones in prepared foods have an effect of the bodies of growing children. My children ate healthy meals at home and were known for being late bloomers physically.

By Chris Glass` on 05/19/2009 1:44 pm
caj p
Bless her heart that is so sad at such a young age..well any age of course but she is so young to have that.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.
By caj p on 05/19/2009 1:44 pm
Whoopsie Elephant

Are you crazy, L.C.???????????  Hannah is completely athletic, and HOW DARE you say that she is obese????!!!!!!   Hannah did NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING to give herself breast cancer. 

Next time, don’t bother saying anything at all. 

By Whoopsie Elephant on 05/19/2009 2:11 pm
1234next ›last »