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There is no sure way to prevent breast cancer. But there are steps you can take that might lower your risk.

Lowering your risk

A risk factor is anything that increases your chances of getting a disease, like breast cancer.

Many risk factors for breast cancer are beyond your control. These include being born female and getting older. But other risk factors might be within your control. This includes being physically active, staying at a healthy weight, or choosing to take certain medications. Doing these things may lower your chance of getting breast cancer.

If you are at increased risk for breast cancer, there are a few things you can do that might reduce your risk.

Steps everyone can take

There are several things you can do to lower the risk of developing breast cancer.

If you have increased risk of breast cancer

There are many reasons you might be at an increased risk of breast cancer. You may have a strong family history of breast cancer or a known inherited gene change (mutation) that increases breast cancer risk, such as in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. Or you may have had ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS).  

There are some things you can consider that might help lower your chances of developing breast cancer or help find it early.

Genetic counseling and testing

If you have a strong family history of breast cancer or you have a family member with a known gene change, you might want to talk to your healthcare team about genetic counseling to see if you should be tested.

A strong family history can include close family members diagnosed with breast cancer at young ages, breast cancer in men in your family, or a family history of breast and other cancers such as ovarian, pancreatic, and certain types of prostate cancer. Try to find out as much as you can about your family history of cancer before speaking with your healthcare provider about testing.

To learn more, see Genetic Counseling and Testing for Breast Cancer Risk.

If you decide to be tested and a gene change is found, this can help you make choices that might lower your risk for breast cancer. Or it may help you take steps to find cancer early.

Medicines to lower breast cancer risk

Prescription medicines can be used to help lower breast cancer risk in certain women at increased risk.

Medicines such as tamoxifen and raloxifene block the action of estrogen in breast tissue. Tamoxifen might be an option even if you haven’t gone through menopause. Raloxifene is only used for women who have gone through menopause.

Other drugs, called aromatase inhibitors (exemestane and anastrozole), might also be an option after menopause.

These medicines can have side effects, so it’s important to understand the possible benefits and risks of taking one of them.

Learn more about medicines to lower breast cancer risk in:

Preventive surgery for people with very high breast cancer risk

Surgery to remove the breasts (prophylactic mastectomy) may be an option for the small fraction of people who have a very high risk of breast cancer. This includes those who have BRCA gene changes. Another option might be to remove the ovaries, which are the main source of estrogen in the body.

While surgery can lower the risk of breast cancer, it doesn’t eliminate it completely. And it can have its own side effects. For more on this topic, see Preventive Surgery to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk.

Before deciding if any of these options might be right for you, talk with your healthcare provider to understand your risk of breast cancer. Discuss how much these treatments might change your risk.

Close observation

For women at higher risk of breast cancer who don’t want to take medicines or have surgery, some doctors might recommend close observation. This can include:

• More frequent visits, such as every 6 to 12 months, for breast exams and ongoing risk assessment
• Starting breast cancer screening with yearly mammograms at a younger age
• Possibly adding another screening test, such as breast MRI

While this approach doesn’t lower breast cancer risk, it might help find it early, when treatment is more likely to be successful.

How diet and vitamins affect breast cancer risk

The possible link between diet and breast cancer risk is not clear, but this is an active area of study. Some studies have suggested that a diet that is high in vegetables, fruit, and calcium-rich dairy products, but low in red and processed meats might help lower the risk of some types of breast cancer.

It's also not clear if specific vegetables, fruits, or other foods can lower risk. And most studies have not found that lowering fat intake has much of an effect on breast cancer risk. However, some studies have suggested that eating less fat might help lower the risk of dying from breast cancer.

But just because the science isn't clear on this doesn't mean that it’s not important to eat a healthy diet. A diet low in fat, processed and red meat, and sugary drinks, but high in fruits and vegetables can have many health benefits. It can even lower the risk of some other types of cancer.

So far, there's no strong evidence that taking vitamins or any other type of dietary supplement reduces the risk of breast cancer.

More resources

For more on the links between body weight, physical activity, diet, alcohol, and the risk of breast cancer and other cancers, see the P站视频 Guidelines for Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention.