Your Breast Cancer Risk

These factors increase your breast cancer risk:

• Age — Risk increases with age, especially after age 50
• Gender — Women are 100 times more likely to get breast cancer than men, but men can get it, too
• Race — White, non-Hispanic women have the highest overall rate for breast cancer in the United States. African-American women who are ages 40 to 50 have a higher incidence than white women.
• Personal history of cancer (this may be caused by both heredity and environmental factors)
• Family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer
• Early onset of menstrual periods (before the age of 12)
• No children or children born later in life
• Late menopause (after age 55)
• Use of (combined) hormone replacement therapy (estrogen and progesterone)
• Alcohol use, especially excessive use
• Overweight and lack of physical activity
• High bone density
• High breast density
• Hyperplasia