Breast cancer preventatives

There is no sure way to prevent breast cancer. But there are things you can do that might lower your risk. Many risk factors are beyond your control , such as being born female and getting older. But other risk factors can be changed and may lower your risk. For women who are known to be at increased risk for breast cancer, there are additional steps that might reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.

Skip to Content. Use the menu to see other pages. Although risk factors often influence the development of cancer, most do not directly cause cancer. Some people with several risk factors never develop cancer, while others with no known risk factors do. Knowing your risk factors and talking about them with your doctor may help you make more informed lifestyle and health care choices. There is no risk of passing this gene on to a person's children. Inherited breast cancer occurs when gene changes called mutations are passed down within a family from parent to child.

Cancer prevention is action taken to lower the chance of getting cancer. By preventing cancer, the number of new cases of cancer in a group or population is lowered. Hopefully, this will lower the number of deaths caused by cancer.

But there is a lot of good news about breast cancer these days. Treatments keep getting better, and we know more than ever about ways to prevent the disease. These eight simple steps can help lower the risk of breast cancer. Not every one applies to every woman, but together they can have a big impact. Being overweight can increase the risk of many different cancers, including breast cancer, especially after menopause.