Breast cancer, the second leading type of cancer in Korean women, has shown increasing incidence over the past 10 years. However, the curves of incidence by age group cast doubt on the birth cohort effect hypothesis. To explain the curves, here I suggest two alternative hypotheses of breast density and viral infection based on pre-existing evidences. Evaluating these hypotheses would require important clues to find unknown risk factors of breast cancer and to plan more effective strategies for breast cancer control in Korean women.
Keywords: Breast neoplasm; Cancer screening; Mammography; Papillomaviridae; Risk factors.