What to know
Understanding your cancer risk and being proactive about your health may help you lower your risk for getting breast cancer at a young age, or find it early when treatment works best.
Overview
All women can do things to lower their breast cancer risk. Young women should learn their family health history, as this can help you learn if you have a higher risk for getting certain cancers.
Learning your family health history also can help you understand if you should talk to your doctor about your risk, and if genetic counseling and testing is right for you. If you learn that you have a higher risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, you can do things to manage your risk.
My Family Health Portrait: Cancer
CDC's My Family Health Portrait: Cancer app helps you collect your family's history of cancer and can help you understand your risk for breast, ovarian, and colorectal cancer. Android users can download the app from Google Play and iOS users can download the app from the App Store.
What you can do
- Learn your family health history. This can help you know if you have a higher cancer risk.
- If you are at a higher risk for early breast cancer, consider genetic counseling and testing.
- You can help lower your risk of breast cancer by taking care of your health.