For detailed information about breast cancer prevention and risk factors, click on one of the topics below.
Every woman is at risk of breast cancer, and the risk increases as women grow older.
For most women diagnosed with breast cancer, gender was their ONLY known risk factor. The risk of a woman developing breast cancer during her lifetime is 1 in 8, but this figure is often misunderstood. Since the odds of breast cancer increase with age, it becomes more important to be diligent about breast health issues, which is why women are strongly advised to have their first mammogram at 40 and to continue having an annual mammogram for the rest of their lives. Several other factors can increase a woman s risk of developing breast cancer. Women who inherit a mutated form of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have an increased risk of developing breast cancer .