All that we don't know
I don’t spend a lot of time wondering how I got breast cancer. I basically believe we encounter a lot of non-point-source carcinogens throughout our lives, and cancer’s genesis in a person largely remains a medical mystery. We know that certain factors are correlated with an increased risk of breast cancer, including: -sedentary lifestyle -obesity -smoking -moderate alcohol consumption (3 drinks/week or more) -early-onset menses -family history/breast cancer gene -diet high in animal fat -not bearing children or bearing first child after age 30 -not breastfeeding -advanced age I don’t have a single one of these risk factors, and two years ago a life insurance company examined me inside and out and deemed me fit for the ultra-healthy rock-bottom rate (ha, fooled them!). But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t or shouldn’t have gotten cancer, just that it was statistically less likely. Overall, a woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is about 12 percent