Breast Cancer Prevention and Risk Factors

Breast Cancer Treatment Can Be More Successful When Started Early

Most breast cancers cause no symptoms.
When breast cancer is detected before it has spread, the 5-year survival rate is 97%.
If cancer has spread to underarm lymph nodes, the survival rate drops to 79%.

If it spreads beyond the lymph nodes to other organs, the survival rate is 23%.

Breast Cancer Prevention
Breast-feed your baby. Some studies show that breast-feeding lowers breast cancer risk.

Take aspirin daily. New evidence suggests that a daily low-dose aspirin tablet (81 mg.) may reduce breast cancer risk. Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of daily aspirin therapy.

Research is continuing on whether the drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene may be effective in preventing breast cancer among women at higher risk. Talk to your doctor about the risks.

Breast Cancer Risk Factors
Any woman can develop breast cancer. None knows what causes breast cancer.

However, women are at higher risk if they:

• Are obese.


• Do not get enough physical activity.


• Consume more than 1 drink of alcohol per day.
  Smoking.


• Have gone through menopause. Breast cancer is more common among post-menopausal women.


• Risk increases with age.


• Are on estrogens or hormone replacement therapy, or take birth control pills.


• Were ever prescribed DES (diethylstilbestrol), or if your mother took DES while she was pregnant with you.


• Began menstruation early (before age 12), or went through menopause late (after age 55).


• Never had children, or first full-term pregnancy after age 30.


• An injury to the breast does not increase breast cancer risk. Neither does having breast implants or terminating a pregnancy.


• White women are more likely to get breast cancer, but black women are more likely to die from it.


• This may be due to lack of access to state-of-the-art medical care and delays in following up on abnormal mammography findings.

Make sure your doctor knows if you:
Ever had breast cancer yourself. If you had cancer in one breast, it is more likely to develop in the other breast. Have a close relative (mother, sister, or daughter) who has ever had breast cancer. (However, most women who develop breast cancer have no family history of the disease.)