risk

Risk of Breast CancerThe term “risk” is used to refer to a number or percentage that describes how likely a certain event is to occur.When we talk about factors that can increase or decrease the risk of developing breast cancer, either for the first time or as a recurrence, we often talk about two different types of risk: absolute risk and relative risk.Absolute riskAbsolute risk is used to describe an individual’s likelihood of developing breast cancer. It is based on the number of people who will develop breast cancer within a certain time period. Absolute risk also can be stated as a percentage.When we say that 1 in 8 women in the United States, or 13%, will develop breast cancer over the course of a lifetime, we are talking about absolute risk.On average, an individual woman has a 1-in-8...

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risk of breast cancer

Breast Cancer RiskBy now you may be familiar with the statistic that says 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer. Many people misinterpret this to mean that, on any given day, they and the women they know have a 1-in-8 risk of developing the disease. That’s simply not true.People tend to have very different ways of viewing risk. For you, a 1-in-8 lifetime risk may seem like a high likelihood of getting breast cancer. Or you may turn this around and reason that there is a 7-in-8, or 87.5%, chance you will never get breast cancer, even if you live to age 80. How you view risk often depends on your individual situation — for example, whether you or many women you know have had breast cancer, or you have reason to believe you are at higher-than-normal risk for the disease — and your usual way...

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symptoms

Breast Cancer symptoms breast cancer may not cause any symptoms. A lump may be too small for you to feel or to cause any unusual changes you can notice on your own. Often, an abnormal area turns up on a screening mammogram (x-ray of the breast), which leads to further testing.According to the American Cancer Society, any of the following unusual changes in the breast can be a symptom of breast cancer:swelling of all or part of the breastskin irritation or dimplingbreast painnipple pain or the nipple turning inwardredness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skina nipple discharge other than breast milka lump in the underarm areaThese changes also can be signs of less serious conditions that are not cancerous, such as an infection or a cyst. It’s important to get any breast changes...

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