Breast cancer is caused by a hormonal imbalance in the chest. Women with overweight, also women who do not use their breasts for breastfeeding, have a greater chance of breast cancer.
The hormone estrogen, which normally stimulates breast development, is active on them, causing cancer cells can occur. When cells start multiplying they forms a tumor in the mammary gland (breast carcinoma).
At the beginning the tumor is small, but over time it grows more and more.

Self-examination is crucial in the early detection of breast cancer. The sooner a woman found a lump herself, the greater the chance of successful treatment. In the Netherlands women between 49 and 75 years automatically get a call for a breast examination once every two years.

If the home doctor suspects something he / she will refer you to a specialist, a mammogram (breast x-ray) will make an additional microscopic examination of a biopsy (tissue sample).
If it appears that a malignant tumor will be present it will be surgically removed. Also, irradiation, hormone or chemotherapy is possible.

As many as 1 in 9 women affected by breast cancer. It is estimated that over 100,000 women in the Netherlands have experienced breast cancer. Every year over 3400 women die from the disease. Breast cancer is thus the highest number of fatal female victims. These numbers belong to the period 2005-2007.

Breast cancer also occurs by men, but much less frequently. Every year in the Netherlands about 65 men have breast cancer. A genetic predisposition is one of the causes.

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A study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle over 1400 women with and without breast cancer, count the number of hot flashes. They also submitted a relationships with the risk of breast cancer. It appeared that women who develop breast cancer were given less hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Women aged 50 years, the risk of breast cancer an average of 2 percent, in the transition risk reduces by half.

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• Relative with cancer (mild risk factor)
  
  
• Early menstruation
  
  
• Late menopause
  
  
• Hormone therapy
  
  
• Taking birth control pills from an early age (mild risk factor)
  
  
• Using alcohol
  
  
• Overweight

• Pysical exercise; equate exercise may reduce risk of certain types of cancer including breast cancer. Women who are sufficiently physically active have twenty to forty percent lower risk of breast cancer than women who hardly move.
  
  
• Healthy eating and drinking
  
  
• Do not smoke
  
  
• Give breastfeeding
  
  
• Get several children at a young age
  
  

• Avoid becoming overweight
  
  
• Do not eat red meat more than 5 times a week
  
  
• Drink only 1 glass of alcohol a day for women (2 for men)
  
  
• Eat two ounce a day of vegetables and two servings of fruit
  
  
• Eat variety
  
  
• Eat oily fish regularly
  
  
• Ensure adequate fiber from whole grains, fruits and vegetables
  
  
• Do not eat black edges or crusts, such as burnt flesh
  
  
• Provide sufficient exercise
  
  

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