Breast Cancer Risk and Prevention

A risk factor is anything that affects your chance of getting a disease, such as cancer. But having a risk factor, or even many, does not mean that you are sure to get the disease. While you can’t change some breast cancer risk factors—family history and aging, for example—there are some risk factors that you can control.

There is no sure way to prevent breast cancer. But there are things you can do that might lower your risk. This can be especially helpful for women with certain risk factors for breast cancer, such as having a strong family history or certain gene changes.