Prerna Uppal, New Delhi: Forty-year-old Rama Kaul has been through hell and back. A breast cancer survivor, Rama's ordeal started early.

"Initially, it was thought it's a benign cyst. In fact my doctor asked me to wait for a few months before I decided on a surgery, but I knew something wasn't right. I listened to my body and went in for a mammogram," says she.

Two days later she was told she has stage two breast cancer. At 40, she couldn't quite accept the reality then. And she is not alone.

"Not only is this cancer more and more in Indian women and that too early in their age group, it is also containing less and less estrogen receptives which means it's a more aggressive cancer.," says Oncologist Apollo Hospital, Dr Sameer Kaul.

This form of cancer is called estrogen receptor negative cancer and can hit 10 years sooner than the estrogen fueled cancer. Along with early incidence, breast cancer rates in India are also rising — almost 1-2 per cent every year.

Oncologist Max Hospital, Dr Vedant Kabra, blames it on the western lifestyle that we have started leading.

"There are some practices of the west which can be blamed. To say that women are marrying later, they are not having children, and if they do, then they have just one child and then they don't get time to breast feed them for long enough and all these things contribute to breast cancer," says he.

The dice seems to be loaded against Asian women, so what can one do to escape the snare or at least minimise the damage?

• Do a breast self-exam monthly if you are over 20. 

Here is How You Can Do a Breast Self Exam

• Get a doctor to do a clinical examination every three years if you are over 45.

Consult a doctor before using oral contraceptives. In addition to these, keeping a check on diet and exercising regularly will help too.

A British research has uncovered a new gene that may increase a woman's chances of contracting breast cancer by more than three times. The study found that the gene called HMMR interacts with the cancer gene BRCA1 leading to breast cancer. Identifying variations in these genes could lead to possible cure.

A study by University of Southampton has found that breast cancer rates were more than three times higher among women whose mothers had wider hips.

American Journal of Human Biology suggests such women have more estrogen which affects the foetus during the first weeks of pregnancy creating the risk.