NATIONWIDE — When you’re told that you have breast cancer, it’s natural to wonder what could have caused the disease. But no one knows the exact causes of breast cancer.

Doctors seldom know why one woman develops breast cancer and another doesn’t, and most women who have breast cancer will never be able to pinpoint an exact cause. What we do know is that breast cancer is always caused by damage to a cell’s DNA.

What does not cause breast cancer:

Caffeine

Mammograms

Deodorant

Microwaves

Cellphones

Plastic utensils

Touching someone who has cancer

Known risk factors

Women with certain risk factors are more likely than others to develop breast cancer. A risk factor is something that may increase the chance of getting a disease. Some risk factors (such as drinking alcohol) can be avoided. But most risk factors (such as genetics) can’t be avoided.

Having a risk factor does not mean that a woman will get breast cancer. Many women who have risk factors never develop the disease.

What you can’t change

Gender: Breast cancer occurs nearly 100 times more often in women than in men.

Age: Two out of three women with invasive cancer are diagnosed after age 55.

Race: Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in Caucasian women than women of other races.

Obesity: Obesity is a risk factor for both men and women. Discuss what can be done with your doctor.

Family history and genetic factors:  If your mother, sister, father or child has been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer, you have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer in the future. Your risk increases if your relative was diagnosed before the age of 50. See “Do you have a family history of breast cancer?” on page 17.

Personal health history: If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast, you have an increased risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer in the other breast in the future. Also, your risk increases if abnormal breast cells have been detected before. If atypical hyperplasia, lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) has been diagnosed before, you could be at risk.

In 2022, an estimated 287,500 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the U.S., as well as 51,400 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.

Sixty-five percent of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at a localized stage (there is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the breast). The five-year survival rate at this stage is 99 percent.

This year, an estimated 43,550 women will die from breast cancer in the U.S.

Although it is rare, men get breast cancer too. In 2022, an estimated 2,710 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S., and approximately 530 men will die of breast cancer.

In the United States, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers. It is estimated that in 2022, approximately 30 percent of new cancer diagnoses in women will be breast cancer.

There are over 3.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

On average, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States every two minutes.

Learn more at www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-facts.

Menstrual and reproductive history: Early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after 55), having your first child at an older age, or never having given birth can also increase your risk for breast cancer.

Certain genome changes: Mutations in certain genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, can increase your risk for breast cancer. This is determined through a genetic test, which you can consider taking if you have a family history of breast cancer. Individuals with these gene mutations can pass the gene mutation onto their children.

Dense breast tissue:  Having dense breast tissue can increase your risk for breast cancer and make lumps harder to detect. Be sure to ask your physician if you have dense breasts and what the implications of having dense breasts are.

What you can change

These are lifestyle and environmental risk factors. Discuss what to do with your doctor.

Lack of physical activity: A sedentary lifestyle with little physical activity can increase your risk for breast cancer.

Poor diet: A diet high in saturated fat, and one that lacks fruits and vegetables, can increase your risk for breast cancer.  

Being overweight or obese: Being overweight or obese can increase your risk for breast cancer. Your risk is increased if you have already gone through menopause.  

Drinking alcohol: Frequent consumption of alcohol can increase your risk for breast cancer. The more alcohol you consume, the greater the risk.

Radiation to the chest:  Having radiation therapy to the chest before the age of 30 can increase your risk for breast cancer.  

Combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT):  Taking HRT, as prescribed for menopause, can increase your risk for breast cancer, and increases the risk that the cancer will be detected at a more advanced stage.

For more information about risk factors, visit www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-risk-factors.