Breast cancer risks: some clinically useful approaches

Information about breast cancer risk is often confusing and may even be misleading when presented as a comparison of one risk versus another. Frequently used comparison formats include relative risks, odds ratios, and proportional risk reductions. This paper discusses five areas of breast cancer risk--average risk, prognosis following a breast cancer diagnosis, risk associated with use of hormone replacement therapy at menopause, use of tamoxifen as prevention, and risks associated with BRCA mutations--to show the clarity and clinical usefulness that are obtained when risks are presented not as comparisons, but in absolute terms with a time frame.