Introduction:

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignant tumor among women worldwide. Considering the two sexes, it is the second in frequency, after lung cancer. In Cuba, it is still the malignant neoplasm that is most diagnosed in women. It is estimated that one in 9 to 12 women with risk factors will suffer the disease throughout their lives in countries of the western world.

Objective:

To elaborate on the risk factors associated with breast cancer.

Methods:

A thematic, observational and retrospective bibliographic review of 25 articles was carried out in the period from September 2018 to January 2019. We accessed the Scielo databases. The search was performed in national and international articles, with full texts, which were subjected to critical reading using theoretical (historical-logical analysis and analysis-synthesis) and empirical (documentary analysis) methods.

Conclusions:

Evidenced showed that the female sex, age, overweight, obesity, smoking, alcoholism, skin color, hereditary family history of cancer, age of menarche, age of menopause, history of benign breast diseases, the use of hormone replacement treatment, the number of children, the time of breastfeeding, physical activity, among others, are risk factors predisposing to breast cancer; hence the importance of recognizing them for prevention and early diagnosis.

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