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Breast Cancer Risk Factors
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Learning what causes cancer and
what the risk factors are for different types of cancer can be
the first step in cancer prevention. Different cancers have
different risk factors. While having these factors doesn’t mean
you will ever develop cancer, they can be a good indicator and a
motivator to get screened and take preventative measures.
“Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, excluding
skin cancer. It accounts for more than 1 in 4 cancers diagnosed
in women in the U.S.,” says
Sujata Jere, M.D., a family
practitioner with The Austin Diagnostic Clinic (ADC). “In 2007,
there were about 40,000 deaths from breast cancer in the U.S.” |
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Inherent risk factors
There are risk factors for breast cancer that are inherent, and
there are some lifestyle factors that you can control. The main
risk factor is simply being a woman. Because women’s breast
cells are exposed to the hormones estrogen and progesterone,
women are about 100 times more likely than men to develop the
disease.
Your risk of breast cancer increases as you age — one in eight
invasive breast cancers are found in women under 45, while two
out of three invasive breast cancers are found in women 55 and
older. White women are slightly more likely to develop breast
cancer than African-American women, but African-American women
are more likely to die from the disease. Women with a personal
history of breast cancer in one breast are three to four times
more likely to develop a new cancer in the other breast or in
another part of the same breast.
“Up to 10 percent of breast cancers are thought to be
hereditary, resulting from gene mutations inherited from either
parent,” says Dr. Jere. “Women with a close blood relative who
has had breast cancer also have a higher risk.”
Lifestyle-related risk factors
Some factors that increase the risk of breast cancer are linked
to cancer-causing influences in the environment, while others
are related to behavior. Some of these factors influence risk
more than others, and your risk can change over time due to
changes in lifestyle or aging. According to the American Cancer
Society (ACS), lifestyle factors that have been shown to
increase the risk of developing breast cancer include:
• Not having children, or
having them late in life. Women who don’t have children or who
have them after age 30 have a slightly higher breast cancer
risk, possibly because pregnancy reduces a woman’s total
number of menstrual cycles in her lifetime.
• Recent oral contraceptive
use. Studies have found that women who use birth control pills
have a slightly greater risk of breast cancer than women who
have never used oral contraceptives. This risk seems to
decline once the use of these pills is stopped.
• Post-menopausal hormone
therapy (PHT). Commonly known as hormone replacement therapy (HRT),
this treatment helps relieve menopausal symptoms and helps
prevent osteoporosis by using estrogen and progesterone
together or separately. Long-term use (several years or more)
may increase the risk of breast cancer and the chances of
dying of breast cancer if the disease does develop.
• Not breast-feeding. Some
studies suggest that breast-feeding may slightly lower breast
cancer risk. Breast-feeding also reduces a woman’s total
number of menstrual cycles.
• Alcohol use. The risk of
developing breast cancer increases with the amount of alcohol
consumed.
• Being overweight or obese.
Being overweight increases breast cancer risk, especially for
women after menopause.
• Lack of physical activity.
A sedentary lifestyle increases breast cancer risk. The ACS
recommends 45 to 60 minutes of exercise at least five days a
week.
Screening
The ACS recommends that women begin having yearly mammograms at
age 40. An annual mammogram is widely accepted as the best way
to discover breast cancer at its earliest stages, helping to
reduce mortality from the disease. It may be beneficial to begin
screening earlier if you are at high risk for breast cancer.
Talk to your doctor to help determine the right screening
program for you.
“For women who have very high risk for breast cancer, including
those who have a first-degree relative with cancer or who have
inherited a mutated gene, you should also add a yearly MRI to
your screening process,” says Dr. Jere. “An MRI should be in
addition to the mammogram, not a substitute.”
Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer in cancer death
among women, but the mortality rate has been decreasing. Experts
say this is most likely due to improvements in care and early
detection. The Susan G. Komen Foundation says that 15 to 30
percent of breast cancer deaths in women over 40 could be
prevented by timely screening mammograms.
“The most important thing to remember is that having a risk
factor, or even several, doesn’t necessarily mean you will get
the disease,” says Dr. Jere. “Most women who have one or more
risk factors never develop breast cancer, and many women with
breast cancer don’t have any of the risk factors. Get screened,
take care of your general health, and provide your doctors with
a complete family history. Those are the things that will be
your best defense against cancer.” |
Sujata Jere, M.D., is a
family practitioner at the Round Rock location of The Austin
Diagnostic Clinic (ADC), a multi-specialty clinic with
physicians representing 24 medical specialties at six locations
throughout Austin and Central Texas.
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