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Risk Factors
Bright Pink does not provide medical advice. Please check out our disclaimer for more information

Bright Pink is all about taking control of your breast and ovarian health. But in order to do that, we have to start by identifying the things that increase our risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer and then working with medical experts to understand what our personal risk is.

Understanding Risk Factors
Factors from Your Past
The Woman You Are Today
Your Future is in Your Hands

Understanding Risk Factors
While we can’t exactly say what causes breast and ovarian cancer, we can identify things that have been shown to increase our risk.

Risk factors come from a lot of different places in our lives – what’s happened to us in the past, who we are today and how we’re planning for the future.

Factors from Your Past
In many ways our past shapes who we are, from our favorite songs and the teams we root for to our health. For some of us, parts of our past are a hint that we may be at an increased risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer, such as:

Personal History of Breast Cancer
If a woman has developed cancer in one breast, she has a three-to-four fold increased risk of developing a new cancer in the other breast or in another part of the same breast. (This is different from a return of the first cancer).

It’s also important to know that if a woman has had breast cancer, she’s at an increased risk for developing ovarian cancer.

Menstruation
Women who started menstruating at an early age (before age 12) or who went through menopause at a late age (after age 55) have a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Chest Radiation Treatments
Your risk for developing breast cancer is significantly increased if you’ve received radiation treatments to the chest for another cancer (like Hodgkin’s disease or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) at a young age, particularly while your breasts were developing. Some reports found it to be as much as 12 times the normal risk.

The good news is that if you received chemotherapy as well, your risk may be lowered if the chemotherapy stopped ovarian hormone production.

DES Exposure
From the 1940s through the 1960s, some women were given diethylstilbestrol (DES) to reduce the odds of miscarriage. Recent studies show DES exposure may increase risk of developing breast cancer not only for those women, but also women who were also exposed to the drug in utero.

The Woman You Are Today
While we each have every reason to celebrate who we are, we should be aware that some of our identifying characteristics make us more likely to develop breast and ovarian cancer. Take note if any of these apply to you:

Gender
Being a woman is the greatest risk factor for developing breast and ovarian cancer. While men can develop breast cancer, it is much more common in women because the cells in our breasts are constantly exposed to estrogen and progesterone, the female hormones that promote growth.

Aging
Your risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer increases as you get older. About two thirds of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are over the age of 55. In fact, 78% of all invasive breast cancer diagnoses occur in women age 50 or older – women in their 40s account for only 17% of diagnoses. The stats are even lower for young women.

Family History and Genetics
Sometimes breast and ovarian cancers seem to run in the family. Sometimes, this is because mutated genes (the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes) have been passed down to you from your mother or father. These genes dramatically increase the risk of developing cancer.
  • A family history of cancer makes you more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier age than other women.
  • Your risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer doubles if your mother, sister or daughter has had breast or ovarian cancer.
  • A strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer may indicate an inherited gene mutation for a small percentage of women. Speak to your doctor about genetic testing to determine if you carry this gene and are at an increased risk.

Heritage
Women of certain races, lineage and backgrounds may have an increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis among African American women, and some black women are experiencing an especially aggressive form. People of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry are more prone to being carriers of BRCA gene mutations, which also puts them at a higher risk.

Breast Density
Recent studies show that dense breasts are a risk factor for breast cancer. Further, they make tumors more difficult to detect with traditional mammography. Thus, the American College of Radiology recommends that women with dense breasts consider MRIs and/or ultrasounds to supplement their mammograms.


Your Future is in Your Hands
Many of the habits you form today can influence your risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer in the future. So from now forward, commit to:

  • A low-fat diet
  • Maintaining a healthy weight
  • Limiting or eliminating alcohol consumption
  • Regular exercise

Since these are factors that you can control, it’s important to take action. Learn how you can reduce your risk by visiting Prevention and Early Detection.

So What’s My Risk?
With your great new understanding of risk factors, it’s time to chat with your doctor and find out what all of this means for you personally.

Check out Assessing Your Risk to learn more about how to uncover your own risk level and why you’d want to know about it in the first place.