High Risk for Breast Cancer

People who may fall into the high-risk category for breast cancer include:

• People with a personal or extensive family history of breast cancer
  Here family is referring to blood-related family members.
• People with a personal or family history of ovarian cancer
• Individuals with a high risk gene mutation or has a family member with this mutation
• Individuals who have received radiation therapy to the chest to treat another cancer such as Hodgkin’s Lymphoma before the age of 30 and more than 8 years ago

If you have any of these above four risk factors, your primary care provider will be able to provide you with further information regarding high-risk screening options. This could mean starting screening even earlier than 40 years old and screening on a yearly basis.

Other Factors that may Increase Breast Cancer Risk

• Certain characteristics of the breast such as having dense breasts
• Previous diagnosis of a benign breast disease
• Starting periods younger than 12 years old and starting menopause at more than 55 years old
  This is because each menstrual cycle exposes the body to estrogen and progesterone. More cycles mean a longer overall duration of hormone exposure, which can promote breast cancer development.
• Breast cancer risk increases transiently during pregnancy and for up to 10 years afterwards. However, it has a protective effect against breast cancer later on.
• Not having children increases the long-term risk of breast cancer
• Having children later in life, such as 35 years or older

Modifiable Breast Cancer Risk Factors

Most of what I have listed so far are factors that are difficult to control. Here are the factors that can be changed to reduce your chance of getting breast cancer:

• Alcohol consumption and tobacco use increase the risk of many different types of cancers, and this includes breast cancer.
• Exposures to certain chemicals such as BPA and phthalates, among others
• Menopausal hormone therapy if used for more than 5 years
• Hormonal contraceptives have been associated with a small increase in breast cancer risk, but this effect was temporary and limited to during its use and up to 7 years afterwards.
• Lifestyle factors such as having a BMI of over 30 and having a sedentary lifestyle and having irregular sleeping habits

This is not an exhaustive list of risk factors and there may be other things that increase breast cancer risk that are not listed here.

Risk Estimate Calculators for Breast Cancer

If you are interested in a personalized risk estimate calculator for breast cancer, there are 2 links that you can use to find out:

• https://www.mycanceriq.ca
• https://ibis.ikonopedia.com: This calculator incorporates your breast density in the calculator, which improves the accuracy of the estimate if you have this information.

It is important to note that these calculators do not factor in race when calculating the risk for breast cancer, but there are ethnic and geographical differences in the incidence and mortality from breast cancer.
Please see the links below that provide more information regarding this topic.

Links to More Information Regarding Impact of Race/Ethnicity on Breast Cancer

• Breast cancer incidence and mortality, by age, stage and molecular subtypes, by race/ethnicity in Canada
• Race, Ethnicity and Indigeneity in Breast Cancer | Cancer Care Ontario