Many factors play a role in your risk for breast cancer. Understanding your risk is vital to detecting breast cancer early and taking steps toward prevention. At the Abramson Cancer Center, we can provide you with your personal cancer risk assessment, screening, genetic counseling and surveillance strategies if you are at an increased risk for breast cancer.
Are There Known Risk Factors of Breast Cancer?
Studies have shown that there is an increased risk of breast cancer depending on a variety of factors. Two of the more commonly known risks include being a woman and aging. Most women have a 13 percent chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime, with the possibility for men being much lower.
People may develop breast cancer without necessarily having many, or any, of these risk factors. Risk factors do not equate to disease and many risk factors vary in their effect on a person’s health. Certain factors, such as lifestyle choices that are within your control, can put you at a higher risk for breast cancer while others, such as age and family history, are unable to be changed or prevented.
Breast Cancer Risks You Cannot Change
Fixed risk factors for breast cancer include the following:
- Gender: Women are much more likely to develop breast cancer than men.
- Age: Breast cancer risk increases with age, with most breast cancers developing after the age of 50.
- Genetic mutations: Inherited gene mutations cause approximately five to 10 percent of diagnosed breast cancers. BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are the most common genetic mutations related to breast cancer, though others can also increase your risk. These genetic mutations can be passed on from either parent, to both men and women.
- Family history: Your risk increases if your mother, sister, father or child had breast cancer, especially if the diagnosis was before the age of 50.
- Menstrual and reproductive health history: Women who menstruated early (before the age of 12), entered menopause late (after 55), gave birth at an older age or never gave birth have an increased risk for breast cancer.
- Dense breast tissue: Having dense breasts increases your risk and often makes breast masses harder to detect.
- Personal breast history: Benign breast conditions or a previous breast cancer increase the chances of developing a new breast cancer.
Lifestyle-Related Breast Cancer Risks
Your chances of breast cancer can be reduced by changing risk factors such as:
- Physical inactivity: Breast cancer risk increases with a sedentary lifestyle.
- Being overweight or obese: An unhealthy weight increases your risk of breast cancer, especially if you are overweight or obese following menopause.
- Alcohol consumption: Drinking alcohol frequently increases your risk of breast cancer.
- Taking hormones: Taking hormone replacement therapy for more than five years during menopause increases your risk of breast cancer. Some oral contraceptives (birth control pills) also raise your risk.
- Childbirth choices: Your chances of breast cancer increase if you never have biological children, have your first child after the age of 35 or never breastfeed.
- Radiation to the chest: Having radiation therapy to the chest before the age of 30 may increase your risk.
How to Prevent or Lower Your Risk of Breast Cancer
If you have a strong family history of cancer or are simply worried about developing breast cancer, there are steps you can take to decrease your risk. These breast cancer prevention techniques involve combatting some of the lifestyle risk factors that are known to cause breast cancer.
Staying physically fit and maintaining a healthy weight is important to your overall health but has also been proven to contribute to a lower breast cancer risk. If you need to lose weight or increase your amount of exercise, speak with your doctor or other support systems in your life about strategies you can develop to help you with this.
Many studies have shown a link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer. Eliminating or limiting alcohol intake may also decrease your breast cancer risk.
If you are instructed by your physician to take hormone medication (for hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptive birth control), be mindful of the side effects. Speak with your doctor about the relationship between these medications and breast cancer risk to understand its full effects and decide whether it is the right decision for you and your body.
Breast cancer risk increases depending on a variety of childbirth choices. If you do make the decision to have a biological child, breastfeeding that child has been linked to less instances of breast cancer.
Find out if you are at risk for having an inherited mutation such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, which are high risk cancer genes.
In this two minute quiz, we will ask seven questions about your family medical history to determine your risk so you can be prepared to speak with your doctor about further evaluation.
The BRCA Gene and Breast Cancer
There are two BRCA (BReast CAncer) genes that everyone inherits through genetics, referred to as the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The purpose of these genes is to repair damaged DNA, including abnormal cell growth that can lead to cancer. If this gene has mutated, known as both a pathogenic variant or gene mutation, this can cause your body to have a more challenging time fighting off abnormal (cancerous) cells.
Inheriting a mutated BRCA gene increases the risk of several types of cancers, with breast cancer being the most prominent. People with an inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation are also at risk of developing cancer earlier in life. If you have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, you have up to a 75 percent risk of developing breast cancer in your lifetime.
Penn Medicine’s Focus on BRCA Gene Mutations
To help you manage the risk that a BRCA genetic mutation poses, we created a center devoted to people and families with a BRCA mutation. The Basser Center for BRCA, founded by Mindy and Jon Gray, is the first comprehensive center focused on the prevention, treatment and research of BRCA-related cancers.
We offer specialized genetic counseling, personalized cancer risk management programs, education and support. Our extensive and ongoing research on BRCA-related cancers provides you with access to innovative treatments and advanced clinical care.
Breast Cancer Risk Assessment at the Abramson Cancer Center
A genetic risk assessment for breast cancer can determine your screening regimen, treatment options and follow-up care. At the Mariann and Robert MacDonald Cancer Risk Evaluation Center, we offer genetic counseling and testing. Whether you suspect you are at an increased risk or already have a breast cancer diagnosis, understanding your cancer risk provides you with options.
Our genetic counselors use their experience and advanced training to create a personalized plan based on your specific cancer risk. Our Breast Cancer Program coordinates your care and guides you through any complex decisions about screening, prevention and treatment.
Request an Appointment
To make an appointment, please call 800-789-7366 or request a callback.