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Breast cancer risk factors available  For information about breast cancer prevention and risk factors, visit the Wellness Wednesday booth between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Oct. 4 at MUSC Children’s Hospital lobby. Additional information about free Prevention Partners seminars on developing a healthier lifestyle and losing weight, and joining a Health 1st Wellness team will be available.   Breast cancer has become the leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Surprisingly, nearly 50 percent of cancer cases could be prevented with the appropriate lifestyle changes and screening tools. Making the effort to exercise on a regular basis, a low fat, high fiber diet and smoking cessation all have a positive impact on reducing the risk of developing cancer, as well as cardiovascular disease, still the nation’s number one disease killer.   Dietary factors and cigarette smoking account for 63 percent of all cancers. Other risks come from reproductive and environmental factors, a family history of cancer, physical inactivity and obesity. Risk factors for breast cancer include increasing age, a family history of breast cancer, never having bore children, a first childbirth after the age of 30, early onset of menarche, late menopause, long-term exposure to postmenopausal estrogen, gene mutations, alcohol consumption, lack of physical activity, obesity and a high dietary fat intake. Astra Zeneca offers a prescreening test online to assess your risk at http://www.getbcfacts.com/resources/idex.asp.   Since dietary factors are largely controllable, Prevention.com has the following suggestions when it comes to healthy eating and reducing risk for breast cancer. A diet should include foods such as olive oil, and fats that come from olives, nuts and other sources of monounsaturated fat sources.  Stock up on dark leafy greens that contain nutrients important for risk reduction. Soy, soy products and calcium rich (low fat) dairy products are equally significant. Foods such as legumes that contain flavones are also considered risk reducers. When it comes to animal fats and alcohol, limit intake of these products or avoid using them at all. Editor's note: The preceding column was brought to you on behalf of Health 1st. Striving to bring various topics and representing numerous employee wellness organizations and committees on campus, this weekly column seeks to provide MUSC, MUHA, and UMA employees with current and helpful information concerning all aspects of health.    Ideally, people should be aerobically active most days of the week for 30 minutes or more. Quitting smoking, breast exams, genetic testing and discussing HRT and drug therapy with a doctor are all valuable avenues towards reducing the risk for breast cancer.     Friday, Sept. 29, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.