Background
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK, with over 55,000 cases diagnosed annually. Over 99 per cent of cases occur in females. In 2015 only 0.7 per cent of breast cancer diagnoses were in males.1
The lifetime risk for developing breast cancer is around 15 per cent in women born after 1960, compared to less than 0.1 per cent in men. Risk increases if there is a family history of breast, ovarian, or a related cancer. Between 6-19 per cent of women with breast cancer will have a family history of the disease.1,2
Lifetime risk of breast cancer is also associated with inherited mutations in specific genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BReast CAncer genes), accounting for about 5 per cent of all breast cancer cases. BRCA genes are tumour suppressor genes, ordinarily helping to repair damaged DNA. However, mutations can make them pathogenic.