An 8-year-old's diagnosis makes her one of the youngest breast cancer patients in the world.
Last month, Chrissy Turner of Centerville, Utah discovered a lump on her chest.
Her parents, Troy and Annette Turner, were shocked to learn their daughter had a rare form of breast cancer.
The disease is called secretory carcinoma, and it reportedly affects just one in a million people, or 0.15 percent of breast cancer patients. Chrissy may be the youngest secretory carcinoma patient in the history of the US.
According to The Guardian, a 3-year-old Korean girl was reported to have the disease in 2000 and appears to have recovered after an operation.
Chrissy's mother is a survivor of cervical cancer while her father, a decorated war veteran, is currently facing a relapse of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Chrissy, who has a 16-year-old sister, will undergo a mastectomy at the beginning of December at Salt Lake City's Huntsman Cancer Institute.
I was scared the first time that I knew about it. But I knew I could fight it off and I hope that I can fight it off.
One of Chrissy's doctors, Brian Bucher, said secretory carcinoma is "very treatable."
Her upcoming surgery will remove all of the tissue in her breast and hopefully prevent the cancer from returning.
A friend of the Turners, Melissa Papaj, started a GoFundMe campaign to pay for several years' worth of medical expenses. Papaj wrote on the page Troy's treatment forced the family to declare bankruptcy in 2013, and Chrissy will need over a dozen scans costing $700-$1,000 each.
As of this afternoon, $12,400 had been raised in six days.
Citations: Eightyearold Utah girl diagnosed with rare form of breast cancer (The Guardian), Centerville 8 Year Old Diagnosed With A Rare Form Of Breast Cancer (ABC4)
