Risk Factors
Personal characteristics
A three-star rating system has been used to give you an indication of the level of breast cancer risk associated with the factors below. The greater the number of stars, the higher the risk.
Gender
Being a woman is the main risk factor for breast cancer. Women are 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer than men.
The rest of this summary relates to breast cancer risk for women. More information about breast cancer in men is available at www.nbocc.org.au/men.
Age
Increasing age is one of the strongest risk factors for developing breast cancer.
Breast cancer can occur in younger women, but about three out of four breast cancer cases occur in women aged 50 years and older.
About one in 250 women in their 30s will develop breast cancer in the next ten years. This compares to about one in 30 for women in their 70s.
What's my BMI?
Height
Being 175cm or taller is associated with a slightly increased risk for breast cancer.
Weight
The relationship between weight and breast cancer risk depends on whether you are pre or post-menopausal.
Before menopause, women who are overweight are less likely to develop breast cancer than lean women. After menopause, breast cancer risk increases with increasing weight or body mass index (BMI).
Your BMI is calculated using your weight and height measurements. It can be used to determine if you are at a healthy weight, overweight, or obese. A BMI from 18.5 to 24.9 is considered a healthy weight range. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.*
* www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au – A Victorian Government initiative
