As a charity, we rely on volunary contributions to provide this information. The causes of breast cancer are not yet completely understood but certain women do seem to be at a higher risk of developing the disease. A very small number of breast cancer cases are caused by an inherited faulty gene.
Genes contain specific information about the body.
This information is passed on from parent to child, and remains the same from one generation of a family to the next. Women who either have no children or had children late in life, and women whose periods started when they were very young or whose menopause occurred late, also seem to have a slightly greater risk. There is some evidence to suggest that women who eat a diet high in animal fat may have a very slightly increased chance of developing breast cancer. Some studies have suggested that women who take the contraceptive pill may have a very slightly increased chance of developing breast cancer than women who have never taken the pill. However, in the great majority of women, taking the pill has no effect whatsoever on their chances of getting breast cancer.