A diagnosis of breast cancer will be devastating for any woman however when the woman is pregnant or breast feeding the diagnosis is even more of a life changing experience. Research by Dr Elisabeth Coyne of Griffith's School of Nursing and Midwifery found young women were left with little guidance about how to handle breast cancer during and following pregnancy. Approximately 25% of women diagnosed with breast cancer are under the age of 50 and a small percentage of women will be diagnosed in their antenatal or postnatal period. Previous research has found younger the age of the woman the more aggressive the tumour type. Consequently the various treatments have a range of physical problems including, infertility and early onset menopause which influence the younger women long after the initial treatment. Dr Coyne's mixed method research explored the experience of breast cancer in women under the age of fifty found included women who were pregnant or breast feeding when diagnosed. "There is nothing in the book for these young women. The multiple issues they have to face beyond their own mortality stretch from practical caring, to their children's distress to just keeping going from day to day. "The lack of guidance leaves them to make on their own as best they can," Dr Coyne said. The research highlighted the different approaches that young women use in response to a breast cancer diagnosis and the importance of providing individualised supportive care for these women.