Factors added to breast-cancer risk list

HOLLYWOOD, Fla., March 16 (UPI) -- U.S. doctors have added a woman's weight and how much she drinks to the list of factors that put her at risk for breast cancer.

"Body mass index, breast density and alcohol consumption are now included in the list of risk factors for breast cancer," said Therese Bevers, medical director of the Cancer Prevention Center, at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The new risk factors join a woman's age, race, family history, when she had children, when she reached menopause among a laundry list of "elements of risk" that have to be assessed when a doctor and his or her patients consider breast-cancer risk reduction procedures.

Bevers helped write updated guidelines for the breast-cancer reduction risk for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, meeting for its 12th annual conference Friday in Hollywood, Fla.

The guidelines offer treatment options for women, including bilateral mastectomy for women who have tested positive for two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. The guidelines also offers possible medical treatments with drugs such as tomoxifen and raloxifene.

The women most at risk for breast cancer, aside from those with genetic disposition to cancer, include women who underwent cancer treatments as teens or young adults for diseases such as lymphoma, and women whose cumulative risks put them in danger.