Breast Cancer Risk Factors

There are many factors that are related to breast cancer. We cannot control many of these factors, but some of them we can.

Risk factors include:

• Age — the risk of developing breast cancer increases with age, especially above the age of 60 years.

• The age at which you have children — the risk increases as your age of having children increases. The risk is higher for those women who do not have children at all.

• Onset of menstruation — the risk is increased if menstruation started at a very young age, i.e. under 12 years.

• Family history — the risk is increased if family members, from either your mother’s or father’s side, had or have breast cancer or if your mother had breast cancer before menopause.

• Hormone Replacement Therapy — this increases estrogen levels and may increase the risk of breast cancer if taken over extended periods of time, i.e. longer than 5 years. However, HRT has a protective effect against heart disease and osteoporosis. Taking HRT for a longer time needs to be a careful decision made between you and your doctor.

• Smoking — this increases the risk of all types of cancer.

• Obesity — increases the risk of breast cancer, and other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Eating healthy foods and being active will help to reduce and/or maintain body weight.

• High alcohol intake — drinking more than two alcoholic drinks per day increases the risk of breast cancer substantially.