Abstract
BackgroundBreast cancer is the second most common causes of women’s death, worldwide. Data on risk factors associated with female breast cancer in the Afghan population is very limited. The aim of our study was to identifying risk factor associated with female breast cancer in Afghanistan.MethodsA retrospective case-control study was conducted with inclusion of 201 cases and 201 controls. Patient information was collected by interviewing the patient through a structured questionnaire. Histopathological information was collected from the hospital integrated laboratory management system. The data was analyzed by using logistic regression with univariate and multivariable analyses to determine the association between breast cancer and predictors.ResultsThe results of the current study showed that factors such as: age (OR = 1.02; 95%CI: 0.99–1.04; p-0.148); age at menarche (OR = 0.83; 95%CI: 0.72–0.92; p-0.008); age at first baby (OR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.07–1.20; p- < 0.001); illiteracy (OR = 1.93; 95%CI: 1.16–3.22; p-0.011); smoking (OR = 2.01; 95%CI: 1.01–3.99; p-0.04) and family history of cancer (OR = 1.98; 95%CI: 1.18–3.32; p-0.009) were significantly associated with breast cancer. However, our study did not demonstrate any statistically significant correlation between breast cancer and some of the predictors that were previously highlighted in literature, such as: marital status, Body Mass Index (BMI), use of hormonal contraceptive, breastfeeding and exercise.ConclusionOur study demonstrated that age at menarche, and age at first baby birth, illiteracy, smoking and family history of cancer were significant risk factors associated with development of breast cancer among women in Afghanistan. Health education of women regarding aforementioned predisposing factors are therefore, expected to be valuable in decreasing the burden of breast cancer with reduction of its burden on the healthcare system in Afghanistan.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the second most common causes of women’s death, worldwide
The recent figures from most of the Asian countries demonstrated that female breast cancer was the most common malignancy in most of the Asian countries, still in some regions of the developing world, it remains the second most common malignancy followed by uterine cancer
The findings of our study showed that positive family history of cancer was significantly associated with breast cancer, with the odds of having a positive family history of cancer being 2.2 times higher among cases as compared to controls, which was similar with the findings of a study done by Laamiri FZ et al who demonstrated that positive family history in immediate relatives was significantly associated with breast cancer, they didn’t report any association between breast cancer and positive family history in second degree relatives [26]
Summary
Breast cancer is the second most common causes of women’s death, worldwide. Data on risk factors associated with female breast cancer in the Afghan population is very limited. The aim of our study was to identifying risk factor associated with female breast cancer in Afghanistan. The recent figures from most of the Asian countries demonstrated that female breast cancer was the most common malignancy in most of the Asian countries, still in some regions of the developing world, it remains the second most common malignancy followed by uterine cancer. Considering the available reports from underdeveloped and developing countries in Asia, the projected incidence of female breast cancer was lower if compared to the Western countries, still the mortality related to breast cancer was higher than the Western developed world [6].
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