Introduction: What proportion of breast cancers are attributed to commonly collected clinical risk factors?
Methods: This population-based study investigated 202 746 women from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium registry. The percent of women with breast cancer attributed to risk factors of breast density, first-degree family history of breast cancer, body mass index, history of benign breast biopsy, and age at first birth was calculated.
Results: Breast density had the largest individual population-attributable risk proportion. This means that 39% of premenopausal and 26% of postmenopausal breast cancers could be prevented if breast density in women with dense breasts (consistently or extremely dense) was reduced to scattered densities on the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) scale. Body mass index in postmenopausal women had the second largest population-attributable risk proportion, meaning that postmenopausal breast cancer incidence would be reduced by 23% if all women achieved a body mass index less than 25.
Conclusion: Clinical breast cancer risk factors explain a large proportion of breast cancer incidence and should be used in the clinical setting to identify those women at greatest risk, and to target screening and prevention efforts.
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