Breast cancer risks

What factors can increase the risk of getting breast cancer?

  • The risk of developing breast cancer increases with age (1)
  • If you have had breast cancer before, the risk of getting it again increases, although drug treatments can help lower risk of reoccurrence (1)
  • Some types of breast cancer are believed to have a genetic cause. Risk of getting breast cancer will be greater than that of the general population if one or more close relatives from the same side of your family have had the disease (2)

Other risk factors for breast cancer:

  • Starting periods early (11 years old or younger) and having periods later in life (54 years or older) (1)
  • Precancerous breast changes (2)
  • Smoking (2)
  • Not having children, or if you had your first child late in life (2)
  • Being overweight (2)
  • Being a moderate or heavy drinker of alcohol (2)
  • Exposure to high amounts of radiation, including radiotherapy treatment to the chest for Hodgkin's lymphoma (2)
  • Taking the contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may also increase your risk slightly (3)

How can I reduce my risk of getting breast cancer?

There are several ways that you reduce your risk of developing breast cancer:

  • Examine your own breasts regularly. Get used to how they look and feel
  • Don't smoke
  • Change your diet. Research suggests that more than a quarter (4) of cancers could be prevented if people ate more fruit, vegetables and fibre-rich foods. Avoid sugars, processed foods and too much saturated fat
  • Avoid becoming overweight or obese. Being overweight is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women (5)
  • Breastfeed your baby. Statistics show that breastfeeding may reduce your risk. The longer you breastfeed, the lower your risk of breast cancer (6)
  • Drink alcohol sensibly. Do not exceed current recommendations (two units of alcohol a day for women and three for men, where a unit is a small glass of wine) (7)

Refs

  1. NHS Cancer Screening Programmes | Breast Cancer | Accessed Mar 12 2009 | Last updated 2008
  2. Mayo Clinic | Breast Cancer Risk Factors | Accessed Mar 16 2009 | Last updated Feb 18 2009 | Pub code: DS00328
  3. Macmillan Cancer Backup | Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy | Accessed Mar 11 2009 | Last reviewed Mar 1 2007 | Page last modified Jan 14 2009
  4. Cancer Research UK | Reduce the Risk (adobe pdf) | Published 2005 | ISBN 0-9546256-3-3
  5. Bandolier Evidence-Based Medicine | Can waist measurements predict breast cancer risk? | Accessed Apr 5 2009
  6. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer | Breast cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries | Lancet 2002 Jul 20; 360 (9328):187-95
  7. Department of Health - Advisory Bodies | Review Of Alcohol: Association with Breast Cancer (adobe pdf) | Accessed Apr 5 2009 | Last updated Mar 7 2008

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