A breast cancer risk assessment is something a healthcare professional does to figure out the chances that someone will get breast cancer.

A breast cancer risk assessment can't tell you for certain whether you'll get breast cancer. But it can tell you whether your risk is average or higher than average. Knowing this helps you and your healthcare professional make decisions about your care. Your level of risk helps determine the kind of breast cancer screening you should have. It also helps determine whether you might consider treatment to lower your risk of breast cancer.

A healthcare professional might do a breast cancer risk assessment as part of a routine checkup. Often it involves asking questions about your health history and your family history of cancer. The healthcare professional also may want to know about the results of any genetic tests you've had and whether you've ever had a breast biopsy.

If you have risk factors for breast cancer, a breast cancer risk assessment might be more formal. The healthcare professional might ask more-specific questions about your health and use a computer to calculate a percentage that tells about your risk of developing breast cancer.

If you're concerned about your breast cancer risk, make an appointment with a healthcare professional to talk about it. Your healthcare professional may do a breast cancer risk assessment to find out your level of risk. If you have a family history of breast cancer or other factors that raise the risk of breast cancer, your health professional might refer you to a specialist. This might be a health professional in a high-risk breast clinic or a genetic counselor who can talk with you about your breast cancer risk.

Why it's done

A breast cancer risk assessment is something a healthcare professional does to figure out the chances that someone will get breast cancer. The results can help you and your healthcare professional make decisions about your care. Your level of risk helps determine the kind of breast cancer screening you should have. It also helps determine whether you might consider treatment to lower your risk of breast cancer.

Risks

A breast cancer risk assessment doesn't have any risks or side effects. A breast cancer risk assessment is an opportunity to better understand your level of risk and how that affects your chance of developing breast cancer. A breast cancer risk assessment involves talking with your healthcare professional about your health history, your family history of cancer and the results of any breast biopsies that you've had.

Breast cancer risk assessment can lead to other tests and procedures that might have risks. For example, there may be risks with genetic testing for breast cancer risk. Procedures used for breast cancer screening and diagnosis also may have risks. If you choose to have surgery or other treatments to lower the risk of breast cancer, these also have risks.

What you can expect

A breast cancer risk assessment is something a healthcare professional does to figure out the chances that someone will get breast cancer. It may be done as part of a regular checkup with your healthcare professional. A healthcare professional also might do a breast cancer risk assessment if something changes about your health or family history. For example, if a family member gets breast cancer or if you have a breast biopsy, you might have a breast cancer risk assessment.

If you think your risk of breast cancer is high, your health professional may send you to see a specialist. Breast health specialists are healthcare professionals who help people understand and manage their breast cancer risk.

A breast cancer risk assessment might involve:

• Talking about your health history.
• Talking about your reproductive history.
• Talking about your history of breast biopsies or other procedures related to breast cancer.
• Talking about your family history of breast cancer.
• Talking about lifestyle factors that may increase the risk of breast cancer.
• Using a computerized tool to calculate your risk of breast cancer.
• Discussing your results and the next steps. If your risk is higher than average, there might be things you can do to manage the risk.

Results

The results of a breast cancer risk assessment tell you and your healthcare professional about your risk of breast cancer. The results might state your risk of developing breast cancer in the next five years, next 10 years or in your lifetime. The results can't say for sure whether you'll get breast cancer or won't get breast cancer.

If your healthcare professional feels that you have an increased risk of breast cancer, you might talk about things you can do to manage the risk. These might include:

• Lifestyle changes you can make, such as maintaining a healthy body weight, exercising and limiting how much alcohol you drink.
• Breast cancer screening with mammogram, breast MRI and other tests to find breast cancer early.
• Referral to a genetic counselor or another healthcare professional trained in genetics for testing that looks for DNA changes that may increase the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
• Medicines to lower breast cancer risk.
• Surgery to remove the breasts or the ovaries to lower breast cancer risk.

Talk about your options with your healthcare professional. If your risk of breast cancer is higher than average, consider asking for a referral to a breast health specialist. This healthcare professional helps people understand and manage their risk of breast cancer.