 Hello, I am Dr. Poonam Patil working as Medical Oncologist in Manipal Hospital here in Bangalore. There are many risk factors of breast cancer, some of which can be modified and some of which are non-modifiable. Now non-modifiable risk factors are the ones that we have to live with and modifiable risk factors are the one in which we can probably do something to reduce the risk. So it's important to know both these risk factors. Non-modifiable risk factors are the gender itself. Women are more prone to get breast cancer than men. Realize that men also get breast cancers, though very rare. The second is age. As we age the risk of breast cancer increases. Family history of breast cancer, a personal history of breast cancer also increases the risk. Particular races in the world are more predisposed to develop breast cancer. There could be certain genetic factors which increase the risk for breast cancer. Menstrual history and reproductive history also increase the risk of breast cancer. Menstrual history is when there is an early menarche and late menopause. Reproductive history is when the birth of the first child was at age of 30 years or later. Then there are some modifiable risk factors. Now these modifiable risk factors are the ones that we need to work on because that is what we can do to reduce the risk of breast cancer. These non-modifiable risk factors are obesity, reduced exercises done by a woman, reduced breastfeeding. Women who have not breastfed their babies are more at risk of developing breast cancer. Consumption of alcohol and smoking, use of hormone replacement therapies, use of birth control pills and sometimes even the decision of not having children increases the risk of having breast cancer.