Modifiable risk factors (things that people can change themselves, such as consumption of alcoholic beverages), and fixed risk factors (things that cannot be changed, such as age and biological sex). The primary risk factors for breast cancer are being female and older age. Other potential risk factors include genetics, lack of childbearing or lack of breastfeeding, higher levels of certain hormones, certain dietary patterns, and obesity. Recent studies have indicated that exposure to light pollution is a risk factor for the development of breast cancer.
Smoking tobacco appears to increase the risk of breast cancer, with the greater the amount smoked and the earlier in life that smoking began, the higher the risk. In those who are long-term smokers, the risk is increased 35% to 50%. A lack of physical activity has been linked to about 10% of cases.
Sitting regularly for prolonged periods is associated with higher mortality from breast cancer. The risk is not negated by regular exercise, though it is lowered. There is an association between use of hormonal birth control and the development of premenopausal breast cancer, but whether oral contraceptives use may actually cause premenopausal breast cancer is a matter of debate. If there is indeed a link, the absolute effect is small.
Additionally, it is not clear if the association exists with newer hormonal birth controls. In those with mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 or BRCA2, or who have a family history of breast cancer, use of modern oral contraceptives does not appear to affect the risk of breast cancer. The association between breast feeding and breast cancer has not been clearly determined; some studies have found support for an association while others have not.
In the 1980s, the abortion–breast cancer hypothesis posited that induced abortion increased the risk of developing breast cancer. This hypothesis was the subject of extensive scientific inquiry, which concluded that neither miscarriages nor abortions are associated with a heightened risk for breast cancer. A number of dietary factors have been linked to the risk for breast cancer. High alcohol intake, and obesity-related high cholesterol levels. Dietary iodine deficiency may also play a role. Evidence for fiber is unclear. A 2015 review found that studies trying to link fiber intake with breast cancer produced mixed results.
In 2016 a tentative association between low fiber intake during adolescence and breast cancer was observed. Other risk factors include radiation and shift-work. A number of chemicals have also been linked, including polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organic solvents Although the radiation from mammography is a low dose, it is estimated that yearly screening from 40 to 80 years of age will cause approximately 225 cases of fatal breast cancer per million women screened. Genetics Some genetic susceptibility may play a minor role in most cases. Overall, however, genetics is believed to be the primary cause of 5–10% of all cases. Women whose mother was diagnosed before 50 have an increased risk of 1.7 and those whose mother was diagnosed at age 50 or after has an increased risk of 1.4.
In those with zero, one or two affected relatives, the risk of breast cancer before the age of 80 is 7.8%, 13.3%, and 21.1% with a subsequent mortality from the disease of 2.3%, 4.2%, and 7.6% respectively. In those with a first degree relative with the disease the risk of breast cancer between the age of 40 and 50 is double that of the general population. In less than 5% of cases, genetics plays a more significant role by causing a hereditary breast–ovarian cancer syndrome. This includes those who carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation. These mutations account for up to 90% of the total genetic influence with a risk of breast cancer of 60–80% in those affected.
Other significant mutations include p53 (Li–Fraumeni syndrome), PTEN (Cowden syndrome), and STK11 (Peutz–Jeghers syndrome), CHEK2, ATM, BRIP1, and PALB2. In 2012, researchers said that there are four genetically distinct types of the breast cancer and that in each type, hallmark genetic changes lead to many cancers. reast changes like atypical ductal hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ, found in benign breast conditions such as fibrocystic breast changes, are correlated with an increased breast cancer risk. Diabetes mellitus might also increase the risk of breast cancer. Autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosus seem also to increase the risk for the acquisition of breast cancer.
Breast cancer, like other cancers, occurs because of an interaction between an environmental (external) factor and a genetically susceptible host. Normal cells divide as many times as needed and stop. They attach to other cells and stay in place in tissues. Cells become cancerous when they lose their ability to stop dividing, to attach to other cells, to stay where they belong, and to die at the proper time. Normal cells will commit cell suicide (programmed cell death) when they are no longer needed. Until then, they are protected from cell suicide by several protein clusters and pathways.
One of the protective pathways is the PI3K/AKT pathway; another is the RAS/MEK/ERK pathway. Sometimes the genes along these protective pathways are mutated in a way that turns them permanently "on", rendering the cell incapable of committing suicide when it is no longer needed. This is one of the steps that causes cancer in combination with other mutations. Normally, the PTEN protein turns off the PI3K/AKT pathway when the cell is ready for programmed cell death. In some breast cancers, the gene for the PTEN protein is mutated, so the PI3K/AKT pathway is stuck in the "on" position, and the cancer cell does not commit suicide.
Mutations that can lead to breast cancer have been experimentally linked to estrogen exposure. Abnormal growth factor signaling in the interaction between stromal cells and epithelial cells can facilitate malignant cell growth. In breast adipose tissue, overexpression of leptin leads to increased cell proliferation and cancer. In the United States, 10 to 20 percent of people with breast cancer and people with ovarian cancer have a first- or second-degree relative with one of these diseases.
The familial tendency to develop these cancers is called hereditary breast–ovarian cancer syndrome. The best known of these, the BRCA mutations, confer a lifetime risk of breast cancer of between 60 and 85 percent and a lifetime risk of ovarian cancer of between 15 and 40 percent. Some mutations associated with cancer, such as p53, BRCA1 and BRCA2, occur in mechanisms to correct errors in DNA. These mutations are either inherited or acquired after birth. Presumably, they allow further mutations, which allow uncontrolled division, lack of attachment, and metastasis to distant organs.
However, there is strong evidence of residual risk variation that goes well beyond hereditary BRCA gene mutations between carrier families. This is caused by unobserved risk factors. This implicates environmental and other causes as triggers for breast cancers. The inherited mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes can interfere with repair of DNA cross links and DNA double strand breaks (known functions of the encoded protein). These carcinogens cause DNA damage such as DNA cross links and double strand breaks that often require repairs by pathways containing BRCA1 and BRCA2. However, mutations in BRCA genes account for only 2 to 3 percent of all breast cancers.
Levin et al. say that cancer may not be inevitable for all carriers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. About half of hereditary breast–ovarian cancer syndromes involve unknown genes. GATA-3 directly controls the expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and other genes associated with epithelial differentiation, and the loss of GATA-3 leads to loss of differentiation and poor prognosis due to cancer cell invasion and metastasis.
Women may reduce their risk of breast cancer by maintaining a healthy weight, drinking less alcohol, being physically active and breastfeeding their children. These modifications might prevent 38% of breast cancers in the US, 42% in the UK, 28% in Brazil and 20% in China. The benefits with moderate exercise such as brisk walking are seen at all age groups including postmenopausal women.
High levels of physical activity reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 14%. Strategies that encourage regular physical activity and reduce obesity could also have other benefits, such as reduced risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. High intake of citrus fruit has been associated with a 10% reduction in the risk of breast cancer. Marine omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids appear to reduce the risk. High consumption of soy-based foods may reduce risk.
Removal of both breasts before any cancer has been diagnosed or any suspicious lump or other lesion has appeared (a procedure known as prophylactic bilateral mastectomy) may be considered in people with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, which are associated with a substantially heightened risk for an eventual diagnosis of breast cancer. Evidence is not strong enough to support this procedure in anyone but those at the highest risk. BRCA testing is recommended in those with a high family risk after genetic counseling. It is not recommended routinely. This is because there are many forms of changes in BRCA genes, ranging from harmless polymorphisms to obviously dangerous frameshift mutations.
The effect of most of identifiable changes in the genes is uncertain. Testing in an average-risk person is particularly likely to return one of these indeterminate, useless results. It is unclear if removing the second breast in those who have breast cancer in one is beneficial.
Breast cancers occur during pregnancy at the same rate as breast cancers in non-pregnant women of the same age. Breast cancer then becomes more common in the 5 or 10 years following pregnancy but then becomes less common than among the general population. These cancers are known as postpartum breast cancer and have worse outcomes including an increased risk of distant spread of disease and mortality. Other cancers found during or shortly after pregnancy appear at approximately the same rate as other cancers in women of a similar age. Diagnosing a new cancer in a pregnant woman is difficult, in part because any symptoms are commonly assumed to be a normal discomfort associated with pregnancy. As a result, cancer is typically discovered at a somewhat later stage than average in many pregnant or recently pregnant women. Some imaging procedures, such as MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging), CT scans, ultrasounds, and mammograms with fetal shielding are considered safe during pregnancy; some others, such as PET scans are not.
Treatment is generally the same as for non-pregnant women. However, radiation is normally avoided during pregnancy, especially if the fetal dose might exceed 100 cGy. In some cases, some or all treatments are postponed until after birth if the cancer is diagnosed late in the pregnancy. Early deliveries to speed the start of treatment are not uncommon. Surgery is generally considered safe during pregnancy, but some other treatments, especially certain chemotherapy drugs given during the first trimester, increase the risk of birth defects and pregnancy loss (spontaneous abortions and stillbirths). Elective abortions are not required and do not improve the likelihood of the mother surviving or being cured.
Radiation treatments may interfere with the mother's ability to breastfeed her baby because it reduces the ability of that breast to produce milk and increases the risk of mastitis. Also, when chemotherapy is being given after birth, many of the drugs pass through breast milk to the baby, which could harm the baby. Regarding future pregnancy among breast cancer survivors, there is often fear of cancer recurrence. On the other hand, many still regard pregnancy and parenthood to represent normalcy, happiness and life fulfillment.
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