Kylie Minogue potentially faces months of surgery and treatment as she battles to beat breast cancer.

An operation to remove the tumour will be the most likely starting point of her cancer journey, as well as helping doctors to decide what course her treatment will take.

But it will also be an emotional rollercoaster as she attempts to come to terms with the reality of her diagnosis.

Liz Carroll, head of clinical services at charity Breast Cancer Care, said while the treatment of the disease was similar whatever the age of the woman, the emotional impact could be quite different.

About 42,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, of which an estimated 2,000 are in their 20s and 30s.

"For someone of Kylie's age we would say breast cancer was uncommon.

"There are a whole host of other factors to consider at that age compared to women in their 50s and 60s.

"For young women it has an impact on their life in the long-term. They haven't done the having kids, they are still working on their careers.

"For someone like Kylie in the public eye it will be difficult," Mrs Carroll said.

After being diagnosed, surgery to remove the cancerous lump is usually the first treatment for most women.

Occasionally women may be given chemotherapy - cancerkilling chemicals - before surgery to shrink the tumour.

The doctor will usually have decided whether just the lump needs to be removed - a lumpectomy - or the whole breast - a mastectomy.

But many women may decide to have their whole breast removed to reduce the chances of the cancer spreading.

After surgery the majority of women will have chemotherapy to make sure none of the cancer has spread.

Mrs Carroll said for young women, doctors would almost always recommend chemotherapy as a precaution.

But chemotherapy can affect fertility, creating an extra burden for women who have been diagnosed at a young age. It is possible for a woman's eggs to be harvested, fertilised and the embryos stored for the future.

Fertility experts are now also able to freeze eggs alone when a woman does not have a partner, but this is a relatively new procedure with a lower success rate for live births.

Both processes are lengthy and the drugs used to stimulate the ovaries could even "feed" the tumour and make it grow further.