Hopefully the STAR trial will provide us with the most appropriate choice of available drugs for breast cancer risk reduction. Women are becoming more informed consumers. Younger women are going for mammograms and older women need to keep going for regular screening. Remember, age is one of the most important risk factors. Much of the great progress that has been made is because of women - they have demanded funding for research and have participated in clinical trials.
Age is the greatest risk factor for breast cancer.
Other risk factors include family history, early onset of menses, late onset of menopause, nulliparity or late childbearing, and obesity is a risk factor for post-menopausal breast cancer. Exposure to ionizing radiation, like that given for treatment of certain cancers such as Hodgkin's Disease during adolescence, is also a risk factor. Hormone replacement therapy, diet, alcohol and environmental factors have been implicated in some studies. For most women breast cancer is sporadic, without clear risk factors. The original families that were studied to determine these genes were very heavily penetrated with breast cancer.