It is estimated that more than 182,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. It is the most common cancer found in women, other than skin cancer. Doctors don't know what causes breast cancer. But by studying large populations of women, they have identified certain risk factors that make it somewhat more likely that a woman will develop the disease. While some women carry genetic mutations that increase their risk of developing breast cancer, most women who develop breast cancer have no risk factors other than the fact that they are women.
