Risk factors associated with breast cancer

Several risk factors are implicated in developing #BreastCancer in young women. Factors associated with lifestyle choices, such as physical inactivity leading obesity, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking; genetic risk factors involving mutations of breast cancer susceptibility genes such as #BRCA1 and #BRCA2; reproductive risk factors, such as age of menstruation onset, menopause can contribute to development of breast cancer.

In a study of 552 Breast cancer patients from our biobank dataset, we analysed various risk factors through a detailed questionnaire from patients diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing surgery.
In this analysis, we found 49% of cases undergoing surgery are obese, and 27% of cases with a familial or previous history of cancer. The other modifiable risk factors included: Hormonal replacement therapy, alcohol or smoking intake, oral contraceptives, excessive intake of processed foods and exposure to chemical carcinogens. None of the patients fell under the risk factor ‘Early menarche (<12 years)and Late menopause (> 55 years)’. Lifestyle modification will help in reducing the risk.