Breast cancer can be prevented by early detection and there are certain risk factors associated with bust cancer, which can be identified to prevent it. There are certain genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, which indicates a high risk of cancer in women, and women who have these genes should be aware of the ways to reduce the risk of cancer.
Exposure to estrogen: One of the main causes of the cancer is a prolonged exposure to female hormone estrogen. A woman is at a high risk of cancer if she takes -
1. Combination hormone replacement therapy
2. Oral contraceptive
3. If the woman has her first menstruation before the age of eleven years and the menopause is late.
4. If she never got pregnant or has a kid at an old age (the level of estrogen hormone is low when a woman is pregnant and when she is breastfeeding).
5. The risk of cancer increases, if the busts are exposed to high intensity radiation such as X-rays, at a young age. Certain groups of people are at a high risk such as women, who get a radiation therapy for Hodgkina’s lymphoma is at a high risk.
6. Obesity is also a reason for cancer because the fat deposits in body of women increase the production of estrogen hormone. Many women, who are obese, release estrogen even after menopause that is formed from the fat deposits of the body. Weight gain, especially, during and after menopause has been a major cause for cancer in women.
7. Drinking alcohol has also been linked to cancer in women.
Factors that reduce the risk of breast cancer -
Use of SERMS: Use of certain hormone inhibitor drugs such as SERMs can reduces the risk of cancer because the drugs blocks the effects of female hormone estrogen on certain organs.
Reduce the risk by early diagnosis: Women who are at a high risk should be aware of the symptoms to reduce the risk. You can talk to the medical expert to know more of the risk and precancerous changes in busts.
If there is anybody in your blood relation who has been diagnosed for breast cancer, you should go for regular mammogram screening to have an early and timely diagnosis. Cancer, which is diagnosed at an early stage, can be treated completely.
Preventive bilateral mastectomy: The removal of breasts is called preventive bilateral mastectomy and it reduces the risk but it does not completely prevent the risk. Women go for the surgery when they possess the BRCA gene or if the women suffered sometime in her life from cancer in one of the busts.
Removal of ovaries: Women who have the BRCA gene may reduce the risk by fifty percent or more by surgically getting the ovaries removed before menopause because the surgery removes the organ that secretes estrogen and estrogen is main cause for the cancer. The surgery is called Prophylactic oophorectomy.
