Breast Cancer Prevention

Preventing breast cancer begins with knowing the risk factors for the disease. The next step is to eliminate or manage the risk factors that can be controlled. Breast cancer prevention strategies often begin with lifestyle changes, such as exercising more or drinking less alcohol. Medications may also be recommended. While surgical procedures, such as a prophylactic mastectomy, may be part of a prevention strategy for breast cancer, women should undergo cancer risk assessment and counseling prior to surgery.

 

Prevention of Breast Cancer: An Overview

Doctors cannot always explain why one person gets cancer and another does not. However, breast cancer research scientists have studied the general patterns of cancer in the population to learn what things around us and what things we do in our lives may increase our chance of developing cancer.
 
Anything that increases a person's chance of developing a disease is called a risk factor; anything that decreases a person's chance of developing a disease is called a protective factor.
 
Breast cancer prevention means avoiding the risk factors and increasing the protective factors that can be controlled so that a person's chance of developing cancer decreases.
 

Breast Cancer Prevention: Know the Risk Factors

The first step in preventing breast cancer is knowing what the risk factors are for breast cancer. Some of the breast cancer risk factors can be avoided, but many cannot. For example, women who inherit specific genes, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, have a higher risk of developing breast cancer (see Breast Cancer Gene). High-risk genes are risk factors that cannot be changed.
 
Studies have identified the following breast cancer risk factors:
 
  • Age
  • Personal history of breast cancer
  • Family history
  • Certain breast changes
  • Gene changes
  • Reproductive and menstrual history
  • Race
  • Radiation to the chest
  • Breast density
  • Taking DES (diethylstilbestrol -- a synthetic estrogen)
  • Being overweight or obese (see BMI Calculator to check your weight status)
  • Lack of physical activity
  • Excessive use of alcohol.
     
(Click Breast Cancer Risk Factors for more information on risk factors for breast cancer.)
 
The next step in breast cancer prevention is doing something about the risk factors you can control, such as your weight, physical activity level, and alcohol usage.
 
(Breast Cancer Prevention Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD