Understand and Reduce Your Risk for Breast Cancer

Women concerned about their risk of developing breast cancer can receive a thorough risk evaluation and a customized breast health plan through our High Risk Breast Cancer Program. 

Risk Factors

Several characteristics may put you at a greater risk for developing breast cancer. Lifestyle factors that are within your control include:

• Weight — Maintaining a healthy weight for your age and height
• Diet — Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet
• Activity — Getting regular physical activity
• Alcohol intake — Increased alcohol intake (more than one drink per day or three per week) increases the risk of developing breast and other cancers
• Smoking — Quit smoking

Other lifestyle-related risk factors include: 

• Having your first child when you are older
• Using post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy, particularly combined estrogen and progesterone therapy for more than four years (current and recent users) 

Risk factors that you cannot change include:

• Being born female
• Getting older
• Family history of breast cancer
  • First degree relatives (parents, siblings, children) on one side of the family who have had breast or ovarian cancer, especially if diagnosed at an early age.
  • Other blood relatives with breast cancer
• Genetics: Inheriting certain gene changes (mutations) - BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, other high-risk gene mutations or genetically-linked syndromes, such as ATM, PALB2, TP53 (Lynch syndrome), CHEK2, PTEN (Cowden syndrome), CDH1 (hereditary diffuse gastric cancer), STK11 (Peutz-Jeghers syndrome)
• Having Ashkenazi Jewish heritage (increased incidence of BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation)
• Having dense breast tissue (a greater amount of breast and connective tissue compared to fat), as seen on a mammogram
• History of abnormal cells on a breast biopsy, such as
  • Atypical hyperplasia — a non-cancerous condition in which cells have abnormal features and are increased in number
  • Lobular carcinoma in situ — abnormal cells found in the lobules of the breast)
• Getting your first menstrual period early (especially before age 12)
• Not having any children
• Going through menopause later (typically after age 55)
• Having radiation therapy to the chest/breast area when you were young, such as radiation to the neck, chest and armpit lymph nodes (mantle radiation) to treat lymphoma

What to Expect

Exploring your risk for breast cancer begins at the time of your screening or diagnostic mammogram, when we will assess your breast cancer risk based on your personal risk factors and family history at no additional cost. You will be asked a series of questions before or during your mammogram appointment, including questions about breast health, changes since your last mammogram and family history of cancer. 

If the assessment during your mammogram shows you are at higher-than-average risk for breast cancer, you may be referred to the High Risk Breast Cancer Program team for additional evaluation. Our team has many ways to assess and manage your risk of developing breast cancer, including:

• Imaging: Establishing a schedule for supplemental breast imaging will help monitor any changes in breast tissue that could point to an abnormality.
• Clinical exam of the breasts: An experienced breast health clinician checks for abnormalities in breast size or shape, changes in the skin and lumps. The clinician also palpates (gently feels) the lymph nodes under the arms and in the neck region.
• Genetic counseling: If you have a concerning family history of cancer, our genetic counselors may recommend you undergo genetic testing for BRCA1, BRCA2 or other genes that predispose you to breast cancer or other cancers. We will coordinate your tests with our Cancer Genetics Screening Program.

Reducing Your Risk

We will work with you and your doctors to determine your needs. Depending on your level of risk, you have several options for reducing that risk. Be sure to manage lifestyle risk factors that are within your control. Nationwide clinical trials have shown that some efforts can reduce a woman's risk of developing breast cancer by 50 percent!

• Healthy lifestyle: Watching your weight, drinking alcohol in moderation and eating healthy foods can lower your risk.
• Personalized care plans: You may work with your doctor or a nurse practitioner to develop an individualized care plan that may include annual magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams in addition to annual screening mammograms. These care plans help detect breast cancer early to improve outcomes.
• Preventive Medications: You may choose to take preventive medications such as tamoxifen and raloxifen. Patients typically take these medications for five years.
• Prophylactic mastectomy: Based on the results of genetic testing for some patients, surgical removal of the breasts may be discussed.

Experts in High Risk Breast Cancer Evaluation

All of our clinicians are highly experienced in breast health and regularly see patients with breast concerns. Our experts are trained to evaluate risk factors and recognize when a woman might have a gene mutation or other issues that puts her at risk for breast cancer.

Locations

We offer high risk breast cancer evaluation at many convenient Froedtert & MCW locations. Patients of Moorland Reserve Health Center may access the program at any of these locations.

• Greenfield: Greenfield Highlands Health Center, Rayus Radiology
• Menomonee Falls: Breast Care Center at Froedtert Menomonee Falls Hospital
• Menomonee Falls: North Hills Health Center, Rayus Radiology
• Mequon: Mequon Health Center
• Oak Creek: Drexel Town Square Health Center
• Waukesha: Westbrook Health Center, Rayus Radiology
• Wauwatosa: Breast Care Center, Froedtert Hospital campus, Clinical Cancer Center
• West Bend: Cancer Center at Froedtert West Bend Hospital