BSE is best done one week after menstruation starts, or on the same day each month for the post-menopausal woman. Asymptomatic women should have their breasts examined by a trained health professional every three years from ages 20-40 and annually thereafter. Mammography is a special x-ray technique used to examine the breast. Women with a family history of breast cancer may require more frequent mammography. The risk from this exposure to the breast after age 35 is considered negligible.
All women are at risk of breast cancer.
Women at a higher risk for developing breast cancer are those with a strong family history of breast cancer, a personal history of breast cancer, early menarche or late menopause, or a first full-pregnancy after age 30. The risk of developing breast cancer also increases with increasing age. Long-term estrogen therapy, a high fat diet, and alcohol use have been reported as possible risk factors, but the extent of their relationship to the onset of breast cancer remains unclear. The diagnosis of breast cancer can only be made by pathological examination of breast tissue. A lump in the breast usually warrants biopsy even when the mammogram is described as being normal.