Abstract
Breast cancer is the number one cause of can- cer deaths among Hispanic women in the United States, and in Mexico, it recently became the primary cause of cancer deaths. This malign- nancy represents a poorly understood and un- derstudied disease in Hispanic women. The ELLA Binational Breast Cancer Study was es- tablished in 2006 as a multi-center study to as- sess patterns of breast tumor markers, clinical characteristics, and their risk factors in women of Mexican descent. We describe the design and implementation of the ELLA Study and provide a risk factor comparison between women in the U.S. and those in Mexico based on a sample of 765 patients (364 in the U.S. and 401 in Mexico). Compared to women in Mexico, U.S. women had significantly (p < 0.05) lower parity (3.2 vs. 3.9 mean live births) and breastfeeding rates (57.5% vs. 80.5%), higher use of oral contraceptives (60.7% vs. 50.1%) and hormone replacement therapy (23.3% vs. 7.6%), and higher family history of breast cancer (15.7% vs. 9.0%). Re- sults show that differences in breast cancer risk factor patterns exist between Mexico and U.S. women. We provide lessons learned from the conduct of our study. Binational studies are an important step in understanding disease pat- terns and etiology for women in both countries.
Highlights
Rates of breast cancer in more developed nations have in the past exceeded those in lower-income countries by a factor of five or more [1]
The proportion of post-menopausal women was significantly higher in Mexico than the U.S Use of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy were significantly higher in the U.S than Mexico, but use of hormone therapy was low overall (14%)
Obesity rates were high in both countries, women in Mexico reported a lower body mass index (BMI) at age 30 compared to those in the U.S Current cigarette smoking was low in both countries, whereas alcohol consumption was significantly higher in the U.S than in Mexico
Summary
Rates of breast cancer in more developed nations have in the past exceeded those in lower-income countries by a factor of five or more [1]. In the United States (U.S.), age-adjusted breast cancer incidence differs significantly among racial/ethnic groups; rates are higher among non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) and lower among racial/ethnic minorities, including Hispanics [4]. Despite their lower breast cancer incidence rates, Hispanic women are 22% more likely to die of this disease [5]. Published data [6,7,8,9,10], including our own studies in Arizona [11], indicate that Hispanic women present with breast cancer at an earlier age and with larger, more advanced stage disease of higher grade, a profile similar to that observed for African-American women. Published reports have provided data on the role of reproductive factors [12,13], body size and obesity [14], physical activity [15,16], contraceptive use [12,17], diet [18], family history [13], and migration history [12, 19], in relation to breast cancer risk in Hispanic women in the U.S
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
