Risk Factors
Factors that increase your risk for breast cancer include:
- Sex: female, although men can also get breast cancer
- Age: 50 or older
- Personal history of breast cancer
- Family members with breast cancer
- Changes in breast tissue, such as atypical ductal hyperplasia, radial scar formation, and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS)
- Changes in certain genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, and others)
- Race: Caucasian
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Increased exposure to estrogen over a lifetime through:
- Early onset of menstruation
- Late onset of menopause
- No childbearing or late childbearing
- Absence of breast-feeding
- Taking hormone replacement therapy for long periods of time ( Prempro for more than four years)
- Tobacco use
- Increased breast density (more lobular and ductal tissue and less fatty tissue)
- Radiation therapy before the age of 30 years old
- Overuse of alcohol
Note: Studies show that most women with known risk factors do not get breast cancer. Many women who get breast cancer have none of the risk factors listed above except age.
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