Who Gets Breast Cancer?

August 31, 2015

The American Cancer Society estimates there will be about 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancerinfo-icon and 60,290 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer in 2015. Nearly 150,000 people are living with metastatic, or stage IV breast cancer in the United States. Anyone with breast tissueinfo-icon can get breast cancer, even men.

People of all ethnicities get breast cancer. People with different lifestyle habits and from different walks of life develop breast cancer. People with breast cancer can be fit or overweightinfo-icon, vegetarians or meat-eaters, regular exercisers or “couch potatoes.”

What all people with breast cancer have in common are “bad copies,” or mutations, in the DNA of their breast cells. DNA makes up the genes of a cellinfo-icon. It carries a set of directions that tell cells when to grow and how to stop growing.

These mutations can sometimes come from your mother or father at birth. More often, these mutations develop at some point in your life. Some people are more likely to develop a mutationinfo-icon because cancers run in the family. Others who have been exposed to certain things during their lives are more likely to get a mutation. We are still learning about the causes of these mutations and why people get them.

Breast cancer is less common in women whose menstrual periods started at a later age, whose menopauseinfo-icon started early, who breastfed, who had children before age 30, who exercise and who are not overweight. But even these traits do not prevent breast cancer—they only give you some protection from developing it. Nothing can completely protect you.

You may be asking yourself, “Why me? What did I do to bring on this breast cancer?” Your questions are a reasonable response to the shock of diagnosisinfo-icon. There is no single cause of breast cancer. There is nothing you did or missed doing that caused you to develop breast cancer. Over time, either on your own or with family and friends, you may find your own answer to this difficult question.

Here are some more facts and statistics about who gets breast cancer.






African-American women have lower rates of estrogen receptor-positiveinfo-icon breast cancer and higher rates of estrogen receptor-negativeinfo-icon breast cancer than white women. In African-American women, there is also a 30 percent chance that a breast cancer will be triple-negative. Triple-negative breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer that lacks the three receptors known to fuel most breast cancers: estrogeninfo-icon receptors, progesteroneinfo-icon receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2info-icon (HER2). Young African-American women and Latina women are also more likely to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancerinfo-icon.


Approximately 1 in 40 people of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry carry a harmful mutationinfo-icon in the BRCA1info-icon or BRCA2info-icon genes, which are linked to higher rates of breast and ovarian cancerinfo-icon

Genetics and Family Risk

If you come from a family with a history of breast or ovarian cancerinfo-icon, genetic counselinginfo-icon and testing to identify mutations in your BRCA1info-icon or BRCA2info-icon genes may give you more insight into your diagnosisinfo-icon. The BRCA genes—breast cancer susceptibility genes—are known tumorinfo-icon suppressors, or genes that make proteins that help control cellinfo-icon growth. When inheritedinfo-icon with a mutationinfo-icon, the BRCA genes can increase the chances of developing breast and ovarian cancer in families.


Your doctor may be more likely to recommend genetic testinginfo-icon if you were diagnosed under age 45, before menopauseinfo-icon, diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancerinfo-icon before age 60, have a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer or are of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.

For more information, go to our section on Genetics and Family Risk.