Family History of Breast Cancer

I am 40 yrs old and and after my 1st mamo show a 1 cm mass.  I have scheduled a core needle biopsy.  I have 3 aunts (father's sisters) who have had breast cancer diagnosed in their 50's.  My father and at least 2 of his brothers have had lumps taken out of their breast but no cancer was found.  My mother's side does not have a history of breast cancer.  Dr's I've spoken w/ have adv. that only 1st degree relatives have been shown to increase breast cancer odds but a search of the Ntl. Cancer Institute web site indicates that 2nd degree relative cause increased risk of breast cancer.  What are your thoughts on this?

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear crazybusymom:  Both first degree and 2nd degree relatives can increase the risk of breast cancer but to different extents.  If you consider a women with no risk factors to have a relative risk of 1.0, a woman with a first degree relative will have a relative risk of 2.3 (that means 2.3 x the risk over her lifetime) and a woman with a second degree relative will have a relative risk of 1.5 (1.5 x the risk over her lifetime).