A factor that increases a person's risk of breast cancer is anything that increases a person's chance of getting breast cancer. However, having risk factors does not mean that the person will definitely get cancer. Risk factors include modifiable and non-modifiable factors. This article provides an overview of the risk factors for breast cancer that we cannot change.

Hereditary cancer is the result of one or more inherited mutations in genes whose normal function is to prevent tumor formation in the body. Inherited mutations increase an individual's risk of one or more types of cancer and are passed on from parents to children. So are breast and ovarian cancers hereditary?

Breast cancer has a genetic factor, if a member of the same family has breast cancer, the risk of carrying an abnormal gene increases the risk of breast cancer.