Estimating Breast Cancer Risk: Questions and Answers

• Who develops breast cancer?
• What is the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool?
• What are the risk factors used to estimate breast cancer risk in the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool?
• Why are some other risk factors left out of the Tool?
• Is the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool useful for all women?
• What are some of the latest research findings on breast cancer risk?
• Are there ways to decrease the chance of developing breast cancer?
• How did BCPT and STAR use the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool to add to our knowledge of breast cancer risk?
• What else can a woman do about breast cancer?

1. Who develops breast cancer?

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed non-skin cancer in American women. An estimated 213,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. The risk of breast cancer increases as women get older. Over the years, researchers have identified certain characteristics, usually called risk factors, which influence a woman's chance of getting the disease. Still, many women who develop breast cancer have no known risk factors other than growing older, and many women with known risk factors do not develop breast cancer.

2. What is the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool?

The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool is a computer program that was developed by scientists at the National Cancer Institute and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) to assist health care providers in discussing breast cancer risk with their female patients. The tool allows a health professional to project a woman's individual estimate of breast cancer risk over a 5-year period of time and over her lifetime and compares the woman's risk calculation with the average risk for a woman of the same age. The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool can be found at: http://www.cancer.gov/bcrisktool.