Question

The community health nurse is creating a poster for an educational session for a group of women and will be discussing the risk factors associated with breast cancer. Which risk factors for breast cancer should the nurse list on the poster?

Option 1: Multiparity
Option 2: Early menarche
Option 3: Early menopause
Option 4: Family history of breast cancer
Option 5: High-dose radiation exposure to chest
Option 6: Previous cancer of the breast, uterus, or ovaries

Answer 1

The community health nurse should include early menarche, family history of breast cancer, high-dose radiation exposure to the chest, and previous cancer of the breast, uterus, or ovaries as risk factors for breast cancer on the educational poster.

Step-by-step explanation:

When creating an educational poster on breast cancer risk factors, a community health nurse should list the following:

• Early menarche: Beginning menstruation at a young age can increase the risk due to longer lifetime exposure to estrogen.
• Family history of breast cancer: Especially with multiple close genetic relatives affected, as well as cancer in both organs in a set of paired organs.
• High-dose radiation exposure to the chest: Which can damage cells and increase cancer risk.
• Previous cancer of the breast, uterus, or ovaries: That suggests an increased risk due to possible shared genetic or environmental factors.

It is important to note that multiparity (having many children) is not considered a significant risk factor for breast cancer. In contrast, other factors such as mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can greatly increase the risk, though they account for a smaller percentage of cases. Environmental factors play a role in cancer risk, both for inherited and non-inherited cancers.