
However, many women develop breast cancer without any of these risk factors.Īt Newson Health, the most common reason we hear from women who are scared of taking HRT, is they are worried about the risk of breast cancer. There are certain factors that increase your risk of developing breast cancer and these include simply getting older, being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking, not exercising regularly, and having young family relatives who have had breast cancer. This means that if you take HRT your risk of breast cancer is 1 in 8, and for women who do not take HRT the risk is also 1 in 8. Each woman in the UK has a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer, regardless of whether they take HRT or not.
#Breast cancer infographic download#
This tool is not a decision aid but is intended to be one step in the shared decision making process.Breast cancer and HRT Factsheet Download factsheetīreast cancer is very common.

In general, the benefits of screening increase with age.įor women aged 40–49, we conditionally recommend not screening those who are not at increased risk with mammographyįor women aged 50–59, we conditionally recommend screening those who are not at increased risk with mammography every two to three yearsįor women aged 60–69, we conditionally recommend screening those not at increased risk with mammography every two to three yearsįor women aged 70–74, we conditionally recommend screening those not at increased risk with mammography every two to three years There is evidence that shows that screening lowers a woman’s risk of dying from breast cancer. What are the benefits of screening for breast cancer? In general, harms of screening are greater in younger women and decrease with age. It can lead to additional testing, including biopsy, and may cause psychological and physical harm. With screening, some women will be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them a problem in their lifetime this is called ‘overdiagnosis’ and leads to unnecessary treatment.įalse positives – A false positive test occurs in someone who tested positive (abnormal mammography) but who ultimately is shown not to have cancer. Overdiagnosis – Not all breast cancers will cause harm to a woman in her lifetime. What are the harms of screening for breast cancer?

It is important to weigh the benefits and harms of screening for women in your age group (as shown below) with your health care provider to decide what is best for you. It is an x-ray of the breast(s) to identify potential cancer. Screening is done to attempt to detect potential disease or illness in people who do not have any signs or symptoms of disease.

These recommendations don’t apply to anyone at increased risk of breast cancer, such as those with a personal or family history of breast cancer, carriers of specific gene mutations (or who have a first-degree relative with these mutations), or chest radiation therapy before 30 years of age. Who do these recommendations not apply to?

