breast cancer risk and lifestyle-related factors

Having children

Women who have had no children or who had their first child after age 30 have a slightly higher breast cancer risk. Having many pregnancies and becoming pregnant at a young age reduce breast cancer risk. Pregnancy reduces a woman's total number of lifetime menstrual cycles, which may be the reason for this effect.

Birth control

Recent oral contraceptive use: Studies have found that

What are the risk factors for breast cancer?

A risk factor is anything that affects your chance of getting a disease, such as cancer.
Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, exposing skin to strong
sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor for cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx (voice box), bladder, kidney, and several other organs.

But risk factors don't tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several, does not mean that you will get the disease. Most women who have one or more breast cancer risk factors never develop the disease, while many women with breast cancer have no apparent risk factors (other than being a woman and growing older). Even when a woman with risk factors develops breast cancer, it is hard to know just how much these factors might have contributed.

Breast cancer: Do we know the causes ?

Many risk factors can increase your chance of developing breast cancer, but it is not yet

known exactly how some of these risk factors cause cells to become cancerous.

Hormones seem to play a role in many cases of breast cancer, but just how this happens is not fully understood.

DNA is the chemical in each of our cells that makes up our genes—the instructions for how our cells function. We usually look like our parents because they are the source of our DNA. But DNA affects more than how we look.

Breast Cancer Resources

American Cancer Society (ACS)
Phone:	1-800-ACS-2345 (1-800-227-2345)
Web Address:	http://www.cancer.org
The American Cancer Society (ACS) conducts educational programs and offers many services to people with cancer and their families. Staff at the toll-free number have information about services and activities in local areas and can provide referrals to local ACS divisions.

Breast Cancer Treatment

There are two major goals of breast cancer treatment:

1) To rid the body of the cancer as completely as possible.
2) To prevent cancer from returning.
 

How Is the Type of Breast Cancer Treatment Determined?

The type of breast cancer treatment recommended for you will depend on the size of your tumor, the extent of disease in your lymph nodes and/or throughout your body (the stage), and the presence of the HER2 oncogene and endocrine receptors (estrogen and progesterone receptors). Age, menstrual status, underlying health issues, and personal preferences play a role in this decision making process as well.