The odds are not good - one in three women will develop cancer in her lifetime. It's not known exactly what causes many women's cancers, even well-known cancers like breast and ovarian.

There are some risk factors that all women should know:


The older a woman is, the greater her risk for many women's cancers. Most breast, ovarian, uterine, vular and vaginal cancers develop in women who are over the age of 50 and have already gone through menopause. However these cancers can occur in younger women, particularly those with a family history of cancer. In contrast, cervical cancer occurs more commonly in women under 50.


Women who started menstruating before the age of 12, experienced menopause after the age of 51, have no children or had their first child after the age of 30 are at a higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Infection with certain types of human papilloma viruses place women at greater risk for cervical cancer. Older women who are on estrogen-only hormone replacement or who never had children are at a higher risk for uterine cancer.


Women who started menstruating before the age of 12, experienced menopause after the age of 51, have no children or had their first child after the age of 30 are at a higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Women who have had a number of sexually transmitted diseases or the Human Papilloma Virus are at a higher risk of cervical cancer. Older women who are on estrogen-only hormone replacement or who never had children are at a higher risk for uterine cancer.


Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, p53 tumors, or having leukemia, brain tumors, bone or connective tissue cancer or Li-Fraumeni syndrome can put one at dramatically increased risk for breast cancer. The same mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can also increase the risk of ovarian cancer, and women with colon cancer or hereditary polyposis colon cancer are also at risk for ovarian cancer.


Women who have had one form of women's cancer are at a higher risk for developing other forms of women's cancers. Click on a link below to find out about other forms of women's cancers.