The lifetime risk of acquiring Breast cancer in women is 1 : 8 - one out of every eight woman may develop Breast Cancer.

Incidence of breast cancer is highest in Pakistan among all Asian nations, excluding Israel. This is, in part attributed to the high incidence of BRCA 1 gene mutation found among Pakistani women.

What is Breast Cancer ?
Breast cancer is an abnormal collection of cells, in the breast tissue, which grows rapidly, and often without any control. 85 % of the breast cancer occurs in the mammary ducts, and the rest occurs in the lobules.

Cancer, generally, grows slowly, and by the time a lump is felt in the breast, the growth may have been present for several years.

Signs of Cancer
The following are some of the signs of cancer :
Change in the look or feel of breast
Change in size or shape of breast
A lump in the breast
Increased temperature of the breast
Dimpling of the skin of the breast
Nipple tenderness or pain.
Inverted nipple / sunken nipple
Discharge from the nipple, other than milk
Breast pain
Adapted from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the American Cancer Society (ACS)

Risks factors

Female gender
- women are 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer than men. While men can develop breast cancer, it is a relatively rare occurence.

Age
- The risk increases as women get older, as can be seen in the table

A woman’s chance of getting breast cancer increases with age. Your chance by your current age is:
age 20 1 in 1,985
age 30 1 in 229
age 40 1 in 68
age 50 1 in 37
age 60 1 in 26
age 70 1 in 24
ever 1 in 8
Source: American Cancer Society Surveillance Research, 2005.

Genetic mutation
- BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 ( BReast CAncer gene 1 & 2) are associated with an increased risk of Breast Cancer. South Asian women have an increased incidence of having the BRCA1 gene mutation, which in part may explain their increased incidence of developing Breast cancer at a younger age.

Family history of Breast , Ovary and Prostate Cancer
- Having an immediate female family member (mother, sister, daughter) with breast cancer increases a woman's chance of developing breast cancer 2 to 3 times compared to a woman with no family history of the disease. If a woman has a history of more than one immediate female family member with breast cancer, her chance is increased by about 4 times compared to a woman with no female family history.

If there is a father or brother who has had prostate cancer, than the risk is increased in women of the same family to develop Breast cancer.