Learning Your Risk Could Save Your Life.

A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of developing breast cancer. While we don’t know what exactly causes breast cancer, certain risk factors are linked to the disease. But having a risk factor, or even several, doesn't guarantee you’ll develop the disease — only that your chances are greater than the general population. Some women who have one or more risk factors never develop breast cancer. And many women develop breast cancer with no risk factors.

However, certain risk factors, such as gender, family history, genetics, age, personal medical history, race, age at first live birth and age at first menstruation have been conclusively linked to breast cancer.

Gender

Simply being a woman is the greatest risk for breast cancer, as females are 100 times more likely to develop the disease. However, nearly 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Family History

Breast cancer risk is higher among women whose close blood relatives have the disease, on either side of the family. Having a mother, sister or daughter with breast cancer doubles a woman's risk.

Genetic Abnormalities

Genetic abnormalities in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have been linked to hereditary breast cancer. These abnormalities can be inherited from either side of the family, even if a woman’s parents have never had breast cancer, and can be passed down to children. A woman with these abnormalities has up to an 80 percent chance of developing breast cancer, and is up to 25 times more likely to develop breast cancer before age 50. Fortunately, a simple blood test can detect these genetic abnormalities.

Age

The odds of developing breast cancer increase as a woman gets older. Two out of three women with invasive breast cancer are age 55 or older when the disease is found. However, breast cancer affects every age — it is the leading cause of cancer death in women ages 25-49.

Personal Medical History

A woman who has had cancer in one breast has a greater chance of developing a new cancer in the other breast, or in another part of the same breast. If these women had radiation treatment to the chest area, they also have a greatly increased risk of breast cancer. In addition, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), conditions where abnormal cells are found in the lining of a breast duct or lobules, can increase a woman’s risk. Women who have had an issue resulting in a breast biopsy are also at a higher risk for breast cancer, especially if the biopsy showed an abnormality in breast tissue.

Race

Caucasian women are at a slightly higher risk for breast cancer than African-American women. But African-American women are more likely to die of this cancer due to faster growing tumors. Women of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent also have an increased susceptibility to breast cancer.

Age At First Menstruation

Women who had their first menstrual period before age 12 have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer.

Age At First Live Birth

A woman’s risk may increase, depending on her age at first live birth and family history of breast cancer, as shown in the following table of relative risks.

Relative Risk Of Developing Breast Cancer*

* Adapted from Table 1, Gail MH, Brinton LA, Byar DP, Corle DK, Green SB, Shairer C, Mulvihill JJ: Projecting individualized probabilities of developing breast cancer for white females who are being examined annually. J Natl Cancer Inst 81(24):1879–86, 1989. [PubMed Abstract]

If you think you could be high risk for breast cancer, call The Retreat Women’s Health Center at 877-966-2671. We can determine if you’re high risk. And if you are, we’re the only facility in the area to offer a comprehensive High Risk Breast Cancer Program with proactive steps to manage that risk.

Sources: American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute