Breast Cancer : In Depth - Risk Factors
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There is really no way to know for sure if you're going to get breast cancer, though certain risk factors can make it more likely. However, having one or more risk factors does not necessarily mean that you will get breast cancer. In fact, you can have all the risk factors and never get breast cancer, or you can have no known risk factors and still get the disease.
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A variety of false theories about breast cancer risk factors cause unnecessary concerns for many women. Many have been studied and found to not have any impact on breast cancer risk.
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What can you do if you are at risk for breast cancer? See "Am I At Risk for Breast Cancer” for a list of risk factors. The best thing you can do is to try to lower as many of the risks as possible, such as by making certain lifestyle changes. Remember, however, that in some cases, more studies are needed to confirm which of these can have the greatest impact.
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Key Points The National Cancer Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health, estimates that, based on current rates, 12.7 percent of women born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in their lives.
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1. What are BRCA1 and BRCA2? Each year, more than 192,000 American women learn they have breast cancer. Approximately 5 to 10 percent of these women have a hereditary form of the disease. Changes, called alterations or mutations, in certain genes make some women more susceptible to developing breast and other types of cancer. Inherited alterations in the genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2 (short for breast cancer 1 and breast cancer 2) are involved in many cases of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Researchers are searching for other genes that may also increase a woman's cancer risk.
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Cancer is a disease of the genes. Most cancers develop as a result of genetic damage we sustain over a lifetime. These are called "sporadic" cancers. The risk of developing cancer is higher in those who are born with certain genetic defects. These defects occur in areas of the DNA that affect cell division, cell death, and the repair of damaged DNA. Cancers that result from DNA damage are called "hereditary" cancers. They account for about 5 to 10% of all breast cancer cases. The likelihood of breast cancer being hereditary is influenced by your age at the time of diagnosis. The younger you are, the more likely the cancer is hereditary.
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Key Points Menopausal hormone use (sometimes referred to as hormone replacement therapy or postmenopausal hormone use) involves taking either estrogen alone or estrogen in combination with progesterone or progestin, a synthetic hormone with effects similar to those of progesterone (see Question 2).
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Menopause is a natural stage of life for women. It occurs when the ovaries stop making the hormones progesterone and estrogen. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can make up for some of this loss. You may get estrogen alone if you no longer have a uterus. Or if you still have a uterus you may get HRT as a combination of estrogen and progesterone if you still have a uterus. Some women take HRT to ease side effects of menopause. These may include hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. Others have taken it to reduce certain health risks linked with menopause. HRT has been available for more than 60 years. Still, much controversy surrounds its health risks and benefits.
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Key Points DES (diethylstilbestrol), a synthetic form of estrogen (a female hormone), was prescribed between 1938 and 1971 to help women with certain complications of pregnancy (see Question 1).
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Key Points Some cancers depend on naturally occurring sex hormones for their development and growth. Researchers are interested in learning whether the hormones in oral contraceptives affect cancer risk in women (see Question 1).
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A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association provides data that suggest that women with a family history of breast cancer who used high-dose birth control pills during/prior to 1975 may have an increased risk to develop breast cancer.
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There is a debate raging that has respected nutrition experts on both sides of the battle lines. The topic is the role of soy in breast cancer. Does soy prevent breast cancer or promote it? Does soy have different effects in different people? Unfortunately, there are simply no clear-cut answers yet.
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A woman's hormone levels normally change throughout her life for a variety of reasons, and these hormonal changes can lead to changes in her breasts. Many such hormonal changes occur during pregnancy, changes that may influence a woman's chances of developing breast cancer later in life. As a result, over several decades a considerable amount of research has been and continues to be conducted to determine whether having an induced abortion, or a miscarriage (also known as spontaneous abortion), influences a woman's chances of developing breast cancer later in life.
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