Español
PDFs by language
Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides information and answers for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.
Chat live online
Select the Live Chat button at the bottom of the page
Call us at 1-800-227-2345
Available any time of day or night
Our highly trained specialists are available 24/7 via phone and on weekdays can assist through online chat. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with essential services and resources at every step of their cancer journey. Ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
There is no sure way to prevent breast cancer. But there are steps you can take that might lower your risk.
A risk factor is anything that increases your chances of getting a disease, like breast cancer.
Many risk factors for breast cancer are beyond your control, like being born female and getting older. But other risk factors can be changed. This includes lifestyle changes like being physically active and staying at a healthy weight. Making these changes may lower your chance of getting breast cancer.
If you are at increased risk for breast cancer, there are a few additional steps you can take that might reduce your risk.
There are several things all women can do to lower the risk of developing breast cancer.
Both increased body weight and weight gain as an adult are linked with a higher risk of breast cancer after menopause. The American Cancer Society recommends you stay at a healthy weight throughout your life and avoid excess weight gain by balancing your food intake with physical activity.
Many studies have shown that moderate to vigorous physical activity is linked with lower breast cancer risk, so it’s important to get regular physical activity.
The American Cancer Society recommends that adults get at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous intensity activity each week (or a combination of these), preferably spread throughout the week. Getting to or exceeding the upper limit of 300 minutes is ideal.
Moderate activity is anything that makes you breathe as hard as you do during a brisk walk. It causes a slight increase in heart rate and breathing. You should be able to talk, but not sing during the activity.
Vigorous activity is an activity performed at a higher intensity. Vigorous activities cause an increased heart rate, sweating, and a faster breathing rate.
Alcohol increases risk of breast cancer. Even drinking small amounts of alcohol has been linked with an increase in risk. It is best not to drink alcohol at all. For women who do drink, they should have no more than 1 alcoholic drink a day. A drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits (hard liquor).
Women who choose to breastfeed for at least several months after childbirth may also get an added benefit of reducing their breast cancer risk.
Using hormone therapy after menopause can increase your risk of breast cancer. To avoid this, talk to your health care provider about non-hormonal options to treat menopausal symptoms.
If you are at increased risk for breast cancer (for instance, because you have a strong family history of breast cancer, a known inherited gene mutation that increases breast cancer risk, such as in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, or you have had DCIS or LCIS), there are some things you can consider that might help lower your chances of developing breast cancer (or help find it early):
Your health care provider can help you determine your risk of breast cancer, as well as which, if any, of these options might be right for you.
If there are reasons to think you might have inherited a gene change that increases your risk of breast cancer (such having as a strong family history of breast cancer, or a family member with a known gene mutation), you might want to talk to your doctor about genetic counseling to see if you should be tested. To learn more, see Genetic Counseling and Testing for Breast Cancer Risk.
If you decide to be tested and a gene change is found, this might affect your decision about using the options below to help lower your risk for breast cancer (or find it early)
Prescription medicines can be used to help lower breast cancer risk in certain women at increased risk of breast cancer.
Medicines such as tamoxifen and raloxifene block the action of estrogen in breast tissue. Tamoxifen might be an option even if you haven’t gone through menopause, while raloxifene is only used for women who have gone through menopause.
Other drugs, called aromatase inhibitors, might also be an option for women past menopause. All of these medicines can also have side effects, so it’s important to understand the possible benefits and risks of taking one of them.
To learn more, see:
For the small fraction of women who have a very high risk of breast cancer, such as from a BRCA gene mutation, surgery to remove the breasts (prophylactic mastectomy) may be an option. Another option might be to remove the ovaries, which are the main source of estrogen in the body.
While surgery can lower the risk of breast cancer, it can’t eliminate it completely, and it can have its own side effects. For more on this topic, see Preventive Surgery to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk.
Before deciding if any of these options might be right for you, talk with your health care provider to understand your risk of breast cancer and how much these approaches might affect your risk.
For women at increased breast cancer risk who don’t want to take medicines or have surgery, some doctors might recommend close observation. This approach might include:
While this approach doesn’t lower breast cancer risk, it might help find it early, when it’s likely to be easier to treat.
The possible link between diet and breast cancer risk is not clear, but this is an active area of study. Some (but not all) studies have suggested that a diet that is high in vegetables, fruit, and calcium-rich dairy products, but low in red and processed meats might help lower the risk of breast cancer.
It's also not clear if specific vegetables, fruits, or other foods can lower risk. And most studies have not found that lowering fat intake has much of an effect on breast cancer risk (although some have suggested it might help lower the risk of dying from breast cancer).
But just because the science isn't clear on this doesn't mean that there’s no point in eating a healthy diet. A diet low in fat, processed and red meat, and sugary drinks, but high in fruits and vegetables can have many health benefits, including lowering the risk of some other types of cancer.
So far, there's no strong evidence that taking vitamins or any other type of dietary supplement reduces the risk of breast cancer.
Learn more: For more on the links between body weight, physical activity, diet, alcohol, and the risk of breast cancer (as well as other cancers), see the American Cancer Society Guidelines for Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as editors and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
American Cancer Society. Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2019-2020. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2019.
Chlebowski RT, Aragaki AK, Anderson GL, et al; Women’s Health Initiative. Dietary modification and breast cancer mortality: Long-term follow-up of the Women's Health Initiative randomized trial. J Clin Oncol. 2020;38(13):1419-1428.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Breast Cancer Risk Reduction. V.1.2021. Accessed at https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/breast_risk.pdf on September 1, 2021.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Breast
Cancer Screening and Diagnosis. V.1.2021. Accessed at https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/breast-screening.pdf on September 1, 2021.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment:
Breast, Ovarian, and Pancreatic. V.1.2021. Accessed at https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/genetics_bop.pdf on September 1, 2021.
Rock CL, Thomson C, Gansler T, et al. American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2020;70(4):245-271. Accessed at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21591 on September 1, 2021.
Last Revised: December 16, 2021
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.
Sign up to stay up-to-date with news, valuable information, and ways to get involved with the American Cancer Society.
If this was helpful, donate to help fund patient support services, research, and cancer content updates.