Causes of Breast Cancer
Recognized causes of breast cancer
The cells that make up the human body are in a constant renewal process; dividing and multiplying themselves to keep us healthy. All types of cancer are caused by cells in certain areas of the body which begin to multiply more rapidly than they should, causing a tumour.
The reasons why the cells in the breast begin to multiply in this manner are not fully understood, but various possible causes of breast cancer and factors that put you at a higher risk of contracting this disease have been identified.
Age related causes of breast cancer
The risk of developing breast cancer increases with age, and the vast majority of women with breast cancer are post menopausal, and between fifty and seventy. For this reason, women in this age range should be regularly screened, especially those seen to be at high risk because of the other causes of breast cancer.
Family related causes of breast cancer
Although breast cancer is not necessarily a hereditary condition, there are certain genes that seem to increase your risk of developing this disease, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, which can be passed from mother to child.
Ten percent of women in the western world will develop breast cancer at some point, and having one close relative with this condition does not increase your risk of being one of them. However, if you have two close relatives, such as your mother and sister, who have both been diagnosed with breast cancer, or ovarian cancer, you should make sure you are regularly screened as you do have a higher risk of developing the disease yourself.
Previous benign breast lump or cancer diagnosis
Having a benign lump in your breast does increase your chances of developing breast cancer at some point as it indicates abnormal cell activity in your breast tissue. If cells in your breast tissue have been growing or changing in an unusual way, producing a benign lump, you are at two to five times greater risk that they will eventually form a cancerous tumour.
If you have already been diagnosed with cancer in one breast, you are at a higher than average risk of developing it in the other breast. However, you will be monitored very closely which makes it likely that any cancer recurrence will be detected very quickly and treated in its early stages.
Hormonal causes of breast cancer
Breast cancer cells can be stimulated by oestrogen, the female hormone produced by the body from the onset of puberty to control the menstrual cycle. Increased exposure to oestrogen can slightly increase your risk of developing breast cancer, for example if you started your menstrual cycle early and reached menopause late, or didn’t have any pregnancies give your body an oestrogen break.
Taking hormone replacement therapy is now thought to be one of the causes of breast cancer as women that take HRT have an overall greater exposure to oestrogen than women who do not.
Weight and height related causes of breast cancer
Being overweight or obese can increase the amount of oestrogen in your body, and so if you are post menopausal and overweight you may be at an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
There also appears to be a link between height and breast cancer risk as taller women are slightly more likely to develop this condition. This link is not fully understood, it may simply be that taller women have more breast tissue than shorter women.
Lifestyle related causes of breast cancer
Drinking alcohol can increase slightly your risk of developing breast cancer. If you compare two hundred women that drink two units of alcohol a day, with two hundred women that don’t, an extra three of the first group will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
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