Dr. Tabatha Barber explains why estrogen alone doesn't cause breast cancer. If it did, rates would peak in your 20s when estrogen is highest, but they actually peak in your 80s. Lifetime risk is about 1 in 26, with risk rising from 0.4% in your 30s to 2.4% in your 50s.
About 1 in 26.
0.4%.
1.5%.
2.4%.
In your 80s.
If estrogen caused breast cancer, then when estrogen levels are the highest, we would see the most breast cancer risk. Estrogen is your highest in your 20s and 30s, yet that is the lowest time to ever get breast cancer. The highest chance of you getting breast cancer is actually in your 80s. Your risk is about 1 in 26 in your lifetime. That risk slowly increases every decade. So in your 30s, there's a 0.4% chance of you getting breast cancer. In your 40s, it's 1.5%. In your 50s, you have a 2.4% chance of breast cancer. It increases every decade that you live. In Every decade that women live, they actually have less estrogen in their bodies, typically.
