DNA Direct: Your Genes in Context

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Breast & Ovarian Cancer Risk

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BREAST & OVARIAN CANCER RISK

Who Is At Risk for Breast Cancer?

Nearly 215,990 new cases of breast cancer will be discovered in the United States this year, according to American Cancer Society predictions, and more than 40,000 women will die of the disease. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women, and the second leading cause of female cancer-related deaths after lung cancer.

It's hard to find a woman who doesn't worry that one day she will get breast cancer. Although no one knows exactly why breast cancer develops, most experts believe it is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. While some people may have certain risk factors and never develop the disease, others may develop the disease but not have any known risk factors. Knowing more about risk factors can make it easier for a woman to understand her own risk — and find the screening and prevention strategies that are right for her.

Age and Breast Cancer Risk
Ethnicity and Breast Cancer Risk
Environmental Factors
Genetic Factors
Men and Breast Cancer Risk

Age and Breast Cancer Risk

In the general population, a woman who lives to age 90 has about a 12 percent chance of developing breast cancer. If she has an abnormal BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, however, her risk can be as high as 60 to 87 percent.

Age	Risk
30	0.05%
40	0.4%
50	1.9%
60	4.3%
70	7.1%
80	10%

Ethnicity and Breast Cancer Risk

White, Hawaiian, and African-American women have the highest incidence of invasive breast cancer in the United States. (This is about four times higher than the lowest group).

Korean, American Indian, and Vietnamese women have the lowest incidence of invasive breast cancer in the United States.

African-American have the highest death rate from breast cancer and are more likely to be diagnosed with a later stage breast cancer than White women.

In the age groups 30 to 54 and 55 to 69 years, African-American women have the highest death rate from breast cancer, followed by Hawaiian women, and white non-Hispanic women. However, in the 70 year old age group, the death rate from breast cancer for white women is higher than for African-Americans.

Environmental Factors

Nongenetic factors that may increase a person's risk for breast cancer include:

Increasing age
Exposure to radiation
Hormone replacement therapy
First childbirth after age 30
Early onset of menstruation
Late menopause
Obesity (especially after menopause)
A high-fat diet
Excessive alcohol consumption
Personal history of breast biopsies or breast disease

When thinking about your risk for developing breast cancer, keep in mind that there is no one factor that can predict who will develop breast cancer. There are risk factors, however, over which you may have influence (such as diet).

Genetic Factors

Just as there are genes that define traits such as eye and hair color, there are also genes that increase a person's susceptibility to diseases such as cancer.

In some cases, doctors know specifically which genes are mutated or not functioning properly and cause cancer in a person's family. In other cases the specific genes involved have not yet been identified, and doctors only know that breast cancer runs in a person's family.

The two genes most often associated with inherited breast cancer — BRCA1 and BRCA2 — are believed to account for 5 to 10 percent of all cases of breast cancer. Mutations in these two genes also increase a woman's risk of other cancers, especially ovarian cancer.

By learning whether you have a genetic risk for breast cancer, you may learn that you should be considering different screening and prevention options from those appropriate for the general population. You may also learn information that helps other family members understand their cancer risk.

Men and Breast Cancer Risk

Men can also develop breast cancer, although it is much less common in men than women. Approximately 1 percent of all breast cancer occurs in men. With hereditary breast cancer, the risk for male breast cancer is estimated to be 6 to 8 percent.

When considering your personal risk for breast cancer, it is important to keep in mind that all of these statistics apply to general populations. There are a number of factors — including environmental and genetic — that determine each individual person's risk for breast cancer.