- Cancer may run in families. The risk for breast cancer increases for a woman if one or more of her family members suffer from the disease.
- Women who begin menstruating before the age of 12 years or stop after 55 years are more at risk for developing breast cancer.
- Women who have not borne children or have had children late in their life (usually after the age of 30) are also more at risk.
- Obesity or overweight is a condition that is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.
- Other factors like excessive drinking of alcohol and lack of exercise are also risk factors for breast cancer.