Breast Cancer Risk

Most women have an average risk of breast cancer. About 12 out of 100 women will get breast cancer.

_{[Chart based on National Cancer Institute (2010). SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Breast from SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975–2007. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute. Available online: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html.]}

If a woman in your family—such as a mother, a sister, or a daughter—has had breast cancer, your risk of getting it is a littler higher than women who don’t have a family history of the disease. About 24 out of 100 women with a family relative who has had breast cancer will get this cancer.

_{[Chart based on American Cancer Society (2011). Breast cancer: Early detection. Available online: http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003165-pdf.pdf.]}

If 2 relatives in your family have had breast cancer, your risk for getting it goes up. About 36 out of 100 women with 2 family relatives who have had breast cancer will get this cancer.

_{[Chart based on American Cancer Society (2011). Breast cancer: Early detection. Available online: http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003165-pdf.pdf.]}

Of all the women who get breast cancer, only a few will have inherited BRCA gene changes. The lifetime risk for getting breast cancer for these women is much higher than average. For these women, from 35 to 84 out of 100 women will get breast cancer.

_{[Chart based on U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (2005). Genetic risk assessment and BRCA mutation testing for breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility: Recommendation statement. Annals of Internal Medicine, 143(5): 355–361.]}