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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffA risk factor is anything that makes it more likely you'll get a particular disease. But having one or even several risk factors doesn't mean you'll get cancer.
- Your gender. Being female is the single most significant risk factor for any type of breast cancer.
- Lobular carcinoma in situ. Women with LCIS — abnormal cells within breast lobules — face a higher risk of developing invasive cancer later, in either breast. LCIS is a marker indicating an increased risk of developing breast cancer but it's not a cancer in itself.
- Older age. Women diagnosed with ILC typically are older than those with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). The median age at diagnosis for ILC is in the early 60s, compared with the mid- to late 50s for IDC.
- Postmenopausal hormone use. Use of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone during and after menopause has been shown to increase the risk of ILC. Researchers believe the hormones may stimulate tumor growth and also make tumors more difficult to see on mammograms. Although studies in the 1990s found a correlation between rising rates of ILC and use of hormone therapy, newer hormone regimens, including lower dose combinations, haven't been assessed.
- Genetic cancer susceptibility. Women with a rare inherited condition called hereditary diffuse gastric cancer syndrome have an increased risk of getting both stomach (gastric) cancer and lobular breast cancer. Women with this condition run a 20 percent to 40 percent risk of developing lobular breast cancer during their life.
