Risk Factors for Breast Cancer
- Family History: Like many cancers, breast cancer runs in families. If you have two first-degree relatives with breast cancer, your risk increases by many folds. BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are the most commonly implicated genetics of breast cancer.
- Age: Increasing age is a significant risk factor for breast cancer. About two out of three invasive breast cancer cases occur in women aged 55 and older. The incidence of breast cancer rises with age, particularly after menopause.
- Gender: Being a woman is a risk factor for breast cancer. While men can also get breast cancer, the majority of the cases are female. This is because women have more breast tissue that is highly responsive to hormones. This higher sensitivity to hormones makes women more susceptible to the development of breast cancer.
- Early menstruation and late menopause: Women who get their periods before the age of 12 and women who undergo menopause after 55 years of age have a higher chance of developing breast cancer. This is due to the increased duration of exposure to endogenous estrogens.
- Hormone replacement therapy: Although hormone replacement therapy is considered helpful for women who have undergone menopause, it needs to be used with caution. The use of combined estrogen-progestin hormone replacement therapy, particularly for prolonged periods, has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer.
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