Breast Cancer.
For some women with the BRCA1 gene mutation, the lifetime risk of breast cancer is as high as 80 percent.
While the exact cause of breast cancer isn't known, we do know that the disease occurs when some breast cells begin growing abnormally.
These cells divide more rapidly than healthy cells and then start to accumulate, forming a lump or mass.
These cancer cells can spread (metastasize) throughout the breast and into lymph nodes or to other parts of your body.
Most of the time, breast cancer begins with cells in the milk-producing ducts. But it can also begin in the glandular tissue called lobules, or in other cells within the breast.
While several lifestyle-related, environmental, and hormonal factors may increase your risk of developing breast cancer, none of these factors guarantee you'll develop the disease.
Moreover, many women who develop the disease have no known risk factors.
While some people who get breast cancer don't have any of the following risk factors, these traits increase your risk of developing breast cancer:
Being a woman
Obesity
Older age
Personal history of breast cancer in one breast (increases your risk of getting it in the other breast)
Family history of breast cancer in close relatives such as your mother, sister, or daughter - especially if they developed the disease at a young age
Inherited genetic mutations, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2
Radiation exposure to your chest as a child or young adult
Starting your menstrual cycle before the age of 12
Beginning menopause at an older age
Giving birth for the first time after the age of 35
Never being pregnant
Taking hormone therapy that combines estrogen and progesterone
Drinking alcohol
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