OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk factors such as age, menopause, menarche, age at
the first pregnancy, number of pregnancies and breast feeding period between the
familial and non-familial breast cancer females in Jordan.
METHODS: This study
was carried out in Al-Basheer Hospital, Amman, Jordan during the period 2000 and
2002. A questionnaire was used to collect information from 99 females who were
histologically and pathologically diagnosed with breast cancer. Data of the
questionnaire were entered and analyzed using statistical package for social
sciences.
RESULTS: The highest percentage of non-familial and familial breast
cancer occurrence was among age group 51-60 years. The age of the first
pregnancy is another risk factor of which the highest percentage of breast
cancer was reported for both familial (57.1%) and non-familial (65.4) breast
cancer females who have their first pregnancy while they were 20-years-old and
above. More than 4 pregnancies also represents a risk factor for both
non-familial (67.9%) and familial (68.6%) breast cancer patients. In this study,
there are no statistical differences between menopause and menarche age among
the breast cancer females. Finally, an inverse relationship was shown between
breast feeding period (equal or more than 24 months) and the occurrence of
breast cancer in both non-familial (2%) and familial (0%) breast cancer.
CONCLUSION: This study found that age 51-60 years and the increase number of
pregnancies (more than 4) in the age of 20 years or more are risk factors for
both types of breast cancer. On the other hand, longer period of breast feeding
(more than 24 months) decreases the risk of breast cancer in both types.
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