Background: In Mexico, about 15% of young women (age ≤ 40 years) have breast cancer (BC). However, only 40% of women in this age group know that they should practice self-examination, and only 30% know the proper technique. Additionally, studies carried out in this group show reasons for delaying diagnosis like emotional barriers when a sign is identified, and lack of knowledge of risk factors. The purpose of the present study is to identify knowledge about self-examination techniques, lifestyle, and risk factors that influence the development of BC in university students. Methods: In this exploratory study, we used a 10-section and 55-question questionnaire based on validated international tools such as the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) questionnaire (CAM), the National Survey of Trends in Health Information, and the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS), as a healthy eating pattern. Results: A sample of 53 health sciences school students was analyzed, 93% were women, and the average age was 21 years old. 83% of the students did not feel capable of recognizing signs of BC. Regarding risk factors knowledge, 78.9% recognized using hormone replacement for more than 5 years, 32.7% early menarche age, 98.1% having a closer relative with BC, 63.4% drinking more than 1 unit of alcohol by day, 65.4% being overweight; as risk factors for BC. Interestingly, 32.7% consider being sedentary as a risk factor, however, 43.8% disagree or strongly disagree. The same happens with being overweight, the 34.6% did not recognize this condition as a BC risk. Higher meat consumption was present in 54.9% of the participants. Related to barriers to receiving medical attention if they had symptoms, 21.2% feel embarrassed and 30.8% are scared to see a doctor, 30.8% are too busy, 44.3% are worried about other things, 46.2% are worried about medical findings. Conclusions: Although there was a high recognition of non-modifiable risk, the students dismiss the lifestyle as a risk factor for BC and are not capable to recognize BC signs. It is important to develop interventions to increase knowledge of these risk factors and promote healthy lifestyles from a young age to improve BC prevention. The present study gave us information to design educational strategies, based on the identified needs, that can be implemented as a cancer prevention strategy in this age group. It is also necessary to implement BC cancer prevention education strategies in health sciences school students to improve their knowledge.