What are breast cancer risk factors?

Breast cancer is unfortunately very common.

Women with a strong family history or a gene mutation that increases risk only make up about 5% of all women diagnosed with breast cancer. In this group one in four to one in 2 will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.

For the rest and majority of the population the lifetime risk is about one in eight to one in ten. The strongest risk factors are:

· Being born female

· Increasing age (the number diagnosed per year increases sharply from the age of 40)

Some of the other risk factors include:

· Being overweight or obese

· Regular consumption of alcohol

· Pregnancy history: Women who have not had a full-term pregnancy or had their first child after the age of 30 have a higher risk of breast cancer compared with women who gave birth before 30.

· Menstrual history: Women who started having periods before 12 years of age or women who go through menopause when they're older than 55 years of age, have a higher risk of breast cancer.

· Breast density: people that have more glandular and fibrous tissue and less fatty tissue in their breasts have a greater chance of developing breast cancer.