The American Cancer Society predicts that there will be about 182,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer in the year 2000 among women in this country and about 40,800 deaths from the disease. Breast cancer also occurs among men, although much less often. This decline is probably the result of better detection and improved treatment. We do not yet know exactly what causes breast cancer, but we do know that certain risk factors are linked to the disease. A risk factor is something that increases a person's chance of getting a disease.
Different cancers have different risk factors.
Some risk factors, such as smoking, can be controlled. Others, like a person's age or family history, can't be changed. While all women are at risk for breast cancer, the factors listed below can increase the chances of a woman's having the disease. Men can get breast cancer, but this is fairly rare. Studies show that some breast cancer is linked to changes of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.