A person’s likelihood of developing breast cancer can increase due to several factors. The list that follows includes some risk factors for breast cancer that are under your control and some that are not.

Risk considerations that are unavoidable:

1. Being female
2. Growing old (risk increases after age 55)
3. Family breast cancer history (Having Ashkenazi Jewish background)
4. Previous chest radiation treatments
5. Menopause at an older age
6. Exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES, a drug used in the 1940s through the early 1970s to lower risk of miscarriage)

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‍Risk elements that can be managed include:

1. Inadequate exercise
2. Weight gain after menopause
3. Consuming alcohol
4. Use of specific types of hormone replacement therapy after menopause (if taken for more than 5 years)

Risk Mitigation

There are numerous techniques to lower risk, even if breast cancer cannot currently be completely prevented. These consist of:

1. Kimit or avoid alcohol consumption
2. Routinely exercise
3. Reduction of the use of hormonal birth control and maintaining a healthy weight, especially during menopause
4. Reducing the use of hormone replacement medication after menopause
5. If you have children and can breastfeed them, you should do so, especially if you can do so for a whole year.
6. Discussing breast cancer screening with your doctor, including the ideal age to begin

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Drugs Used to Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer

The chance of acquiring breast cancer can be reduced with the use of preventative medications. These medications consist of:

• Tamoxifen, which inhibits estrogen in breast cells and reduces the risk of breast cancer.
• Raloxifene, a drug that only permits usage in menopausal women and inhibits estrogen in breast cells,
• Taking aromatase inhibitors causes women who have previously experienced menopause to have reduced estrogen levels.