Risk factors you can not change include:
- Age and gender: the risk of developing breast cancer increases as you age. Most cases of advanced breast cancer found in women over 50 years. Women are 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer than men.
- Family history of breast cancer: one also has a higher risk of developing breast cancer if you have a close relative who has had this cancer, like cervical cancer, ovarian cancer or colon cancer. About 20 to 30% of women with breast cancer have a family history of disease.
- Genes: Some people have genes that make them more likely to develop breast cancer. The most common gene defects are found in the BRCA1 and BRCA2. These genes normally produce proteins that protect you from cancer. But if a parent passes you a defective gene, you have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Women with one of these defects have up to 80% chance of developing breast cancer sometime during their life.
- Menstrual Cycle: Women who start their periods early (before age 12) or went through menopause late (after 55) have an increased risk of breast cancer.
Other risk factors include:
- Alcohol consumption: the consumption of more than 1 or 2 glasses of alcohol a day may increase risk of breast cancer.
- Labor: women who have never had children or had them only after age 30 have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Get pregnant more than once or at an early age reduces your risk of breast cancer.
- DES: Women who took diethylstilbestrol (DES) to prevent abortions may be at increased risk of breast cancer after age 40. This drug was given to women between 1940 and 1960.
- Hormone therapy: You have a higher risk of breast cancer if you have received hormone replacement therapy for several years or more. Many women make this type of therapy to reduce symptoms of menopause.
- Obesity: Obesity has been associated with breast cancer, although this link is controversial. The theory is that obese women produce more estrogen, which can stimulate the development of this cancer.
- Radiation: if one received radiotherapy as a child or young adult to treat cancer of the chest area, there is a significantly increased risk of breast cancer. The younger you started such radiation, the greater the risk, especially if radiation therapy was administered when the female was developing breasts.
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