This is a plain-English front door to a breast-cancer risk conversation. It asks about your age and family history and shows you, roughly, where you sit next to the average Australian woman — and, just as importantly, the questions worth taking to your GP. It is a starting point for a discussion, not a clinical risk assessment.
It is for women without a current breast-cancer diagnosis who want to understand their situation before a GP or family-history-clinic visit. For a formal, validated estimate, Australia uses tools such as iPrevent (from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre) and IBIS/Tyrer-Cuzick — this page helps you decide whether one of those is your next step.
It runs entirely on your device. Nothing you enter is stored or sent. The aim is to replace vague worry with a specific, answerable question for your doctor.
General information to help you prepare for your GP — not a diagnosis,
not personal medical advice.
Put a real shape on a worry that floats around as pure dread. Answer a few questions, see roughly where you sit next to the average Australian woman, and walk in with the right questions instead of just being scared.
If you've noticed a breast change — a new lump, skin or nipple change, or bleeding — don't use this tool to decide it's nothing. See your GP about a breast change regardless of your risk score. In an emergency call 000.
This estimates a risk category to help you prepare — it can't check a symptom. If you've found a breast change, see your GP about it whatever this says.
Dr Hb Lo · Breast cancer risk
The honest catch
This short tool gives you a category, not your personal number — and it can't be as accurate as the real thing. Australian doctors use a fuller tool called iPrevent, built by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, which weighs more of your history. Some popular overseas calculators (like the American "Gail" model) were only modestly accurate when tested on Australian women — they sort groups roughly, but they're not a personal crystal ball. And risk works both ways: most women in the higher-risk groups still never get breast cancer, and plenty of women with no family history at all do. A category is the start of a conversation, not the end of one.
Take this one-pager to your appointment
Your risk category, how it compares to the average, and your three questions, on one clean page. Use Print / save as PDF below, or just screenshot it — it all stays on your device.
A category is the first step. If your GP raises risk-reducing options or earlier screening, the breast-cancer-prevention questions walk you through what to ask about each one — the benefits, the real numbers, and the alternatives — so it's your decision, made with eyes open. →
General information to help you prepare for a conversation with your doctor. It gives a risk category, not a diagnosis or a personal prediction — it cannot tell you whether you will or won't develop breast cancer. Only your GP, using a full assessment such as iPrevent, can work out and interpret your risk in your full context. Not an emergency service. In an emergency call 000.
How to read your result
Most women fall into an average-risk band. A minority sit in a moderately or strongly increased band — usually because of a strong family history (several close relatives, young ages at diagnosis, or known gene faults such as BRCA1/BRCA2). This page indicates roughly where you sit; it does not produce a percentage.
"Increased risk" is not the same as "will get breast cancer", and "average risk" is not the same as "no risk" — most breast cancers occur in women at average risk. The value of knowing your band is that it changes what screening and assessment makes sense for you, not that it predicts an outcome.
Family history is read by pattern, not just count: who, on which side, at what age, and whether the same family has had ovarian cancer. That detail is exactly what a validated tool (iPrevent, IBIS) or a family-cancer clinic needs — so gathering it now is useful regardless of what this page shows.
Australian guideline context
Cancer Australia sets the national guidance on breast-cancer risk factors and on who should be referred for formal risk assessment. iPrevent (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre) is the Australian-developed validated tool that combines several risk models, and family-cancer clinics assess people with strong family histories.
BreastScreen Australia offers free screening mammograms, with active invitation for women aged 50–74 and availability from 40. Where you sit on risk can change whether earlier or additional screening, or a referral for formal assessment, is recommended — a decision for your GP.
What to do with the result
Take what this page shows — especially your family-history detail — to your GP and ask the direct question: "Given my family history, should I have a formal risk assessment with iPrevent, or a referral to a family-cancer clinic?" That turns a worry into a clear next step.
If your family history is strong, your GP can refer you for formal assessment and, where appropriate, genetic counselling. Nothing here is a recommendation to start any medicine or procedure — those are decisions made after a proper assessment, with your doctor.
Common questions
Is this a validated risk score like iPrevent?
No — this page is a plain-English orientation tool to help you decide whether a formal assessment is worth pursuing. For a validated percentage, Australia uses iPrevent (Peter MacCallum) or IBIS/Tyrer-Cuzick, usually arranged through your GP or a family-cancer clinic.
I have a strong family history — what should I do?
Gather the detail (who, which side, age at diagnosis, any ovarian cancer) and take it to your GP. A strong family history may warrant a formal risk assessment, earlier screening, or referral to a family-cancer clinic for genetic counselling.
Does average risk mean I don't need screening?
No. Most breast cancers occur in women at average risk, which is exactly why BreastScreen Australia invites women in the screening age range regardless of family history. Average risk changes the conversation, it does not end it.
General information to help you prepare for your GP — not a diagnosis,
not personal medical advice. This tool does not start, stop or change
any medicine. If something is urgent, call 000.