What are the risk factors for breast cancer?

By Cristiano Antonino On May 18, 2022

Breast cancer: As is well known, approximately 1 in 8 women will develop a breast neoplasm during their lifetime

There are risk factors that have a greater impact on the possibility of tumour development, influencing its growth.

Factors affecting the possibility of breast cancer are divided into

modifiable factors, i.e. that depend on our behaviour and habits;
non-modifiable factors, i.e. factors that do not depend on us.

Having a greater chance of developing a tumour by no means means the certainty of developing it, but it does allow for greater monitoring and more accurate prevention.

Non-modifiable factors for breast cancer

Among the non-modifiable factors, let us first consider age, since as age increases, so does the risk of contracting the disease (about 50% of breast cancer patients are over 65), and personal history because, as with any type of neoplasm, those who have already contracted a carcinoma are more prone to a second disease.

This is not a recurrence, but a second new tumour.

The issue of genetics, i.e. heredity, is different: approximately 8-10% of breast carcinomas are inherited because a mutation of a gene in the chromosomal makeup, called BRCA, is inherited.

But it is important to emphasise that not all women with an inherited BRCA mutation will develop cancer: only about 50% will develop the disease.

It is therefore important to know the presence of this genetic mutation in order to improve monitoring and screening with more frequent visits and instrumental examinations.

These factors only presuppose:

increased surveillance;
awareness of the importance of prevention and early diagnosis.

Modifiable risk factors for breast cancer

There are also modifiable risk factors, i.e. for which a risk-reducing attitude must be adopted in the name of breast cancer prevention.

Particular attention should be paid to familiarity.

As in all histories of malignancy, lifestyle is crucial and it is logical that, within a family, the same dietary and non-dietary attitudes are often adopted for generations.

Thus, it is not uncommon for those whose parents or grandparents have had breast cancer, as is the case with colon cancer, to tend to become similarly ill as a result of not having corrected their habits.

Consequently, in the strategy of reducing the risk of contracting breast cancer, like other neoplasms, greater attention must be paid to

diet;
weight;
physical activity’.

The use of hormonal therapies

On the use of hormonal therapies there are important debates, supported with ambivalence by several sources of studies.

However, it should be mentioned that the longer the duration of a woman’s fertile period, i.e. the duration in years between first menstruation and menopause, the greater the risk of contracting breast cancer.

This highlights the importance of the role of female hormones in the genesis of some breast cancers, just as the fact that those who have one or more children and those who breastfeed their children are more ‘protected’ from the risk of contracting this cancer.

Without in any way detracting from the role of oestrogen therapy (the contraceptive pill) and the role of hormone replacement therapy in the menopause, it must be emphasised that these must be carried out under strict medical supervision and not for long periods without interruption, especially for contraceptives that are started nowadays by teenage girls.

This is because the possibility in a woman’s future of developing an oestrogen (female hormone)-dependent breast cancer cannot be underestimated and massive administration of hormones could play a role in its more rapid development.

Close attention must be paid to the secretion of blood from the nipples.

A clear, serous, yellowish, milky secretion is not dangerous, although worthy of further diagnostic investigation.

On the other hand, the discharge of blood, even episodic, is a sign of a papilloma of the breast ducts, a benign pathology that tends, however, with the passage of time, if left untreated, to turn into a malignant pathology.

To be dispelled, on the other hand, is the alarm that some warn about the role of fibrocystic mastopathy as an early form of cancer: fibrocystic mastopathy is a benign breast abnormality that does not presuppose tumour formation.

The case of breast implants

With regard to women who have had breast implants, a study, to be published in the International Journal of Cancer in October, says that cosmetic breast implants are not associated with a higher incidence of breast cancer.

Therefore, the difference could be seen in a greater difficulty of early diagnosis of carcinoma, even though the technologies present in Italy today mean that a good radiologist can detect the existence of a tumour even in the presence of prostheses.

It is therefore essential to always go to professional centres where specialists are able to detect any abnormalities even in the presence of prostheses.

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