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Breast Cancer (Expert Forum)
No Pregnancies - Am I High Risk
Questions posted in the Breast Cancer Forum are answered by medical professionals from The Cleveland Clinic. Topics include Breast Biopsy, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, Lumps, Lumpectomy, Lymph node dissection, Lymphedema, Mammograms, Mastectomy, Radiation Therapy, Reconstruction, Self Breast Exam, and Surgery.
No Pregnancies - Am I High Risk
by rainydaze, Nov 04, 2001 12:00AM
By choice I have elected not to have children. I am soon to be 39 and have heard that because of never bearing children I am at high risk for breast cancer. In addition, I lost my grandmother and my aunt to breast cancer.
Would you please explain why I am at high risk?
Thank you
Would you please explain why I am at high risk?
Thank you
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-RN,MSN-JS, Nov 05, 2001 12:00AM
Dear Rainydaze, Risk factors refers to identifiable factors that make some people more susceptible than others to a particular disease. A risk factor is usually determined by taking a large population of people and identifying a variety of features about them, and determining who gets the disease under study, and then seeing what the relationship is between the disease and the features that commonly occur within the group. In breast cancer, there have been various risk factors identified, such as family history, age, early start of menstruation or first pregnancy after 30 or no pregnancy. There are theories as to why such factors as early start of menstruation or first pregnancy after 30 or no pregnancy may affect breast cancer but at this time no definite reason has been proven.
The determination of a person’s individual risk is complex. Attempts have been made to quantify risk using various model’s for example the Gail model which assigns certain number values to risk factors and calculates a person’s risk based on age and a calculated risk number is given. This is only a tool, which can only tell a person their statistical risk based on its criteria. It cannot tell if you actually will get breast cancer.
Your risk is more of an accumulation of factors, you may be at higher risk than a woman who has had children before she was 30 years old. You may be at higher risk than someone who does not have any family history of breast cancer. What this may indicate to you is to be up to date with your yearly physical exams, and mammograms, as well as, monthly self breast exams.
The determination of a person’s individual risk is complex. Attempts have been made to quantify risk using various model’s for example the Gail model which assigns certain number values to risk factors and calculates a person’s risk based on age and a calculated risk number is given. This is only a tool, which can only tell a person their statistical risk based on its criteria. It cannot tell if you actually will get breast cancer.
Your risk is more of an accumulation of factors, you may be at higher risk than a woman who has had children before she was 30 years old. You may be at higher risk than someone who does not have any family history of breast cancer. What this may indicate to you is to be up to date with your yearly physical exams, and mammograms, as well as, monthly self breast exams.
