Abstract

Background : Cancer has become one of the ten leading causes of death in India. Breast cancer is the most common diagnosed malignancy in India, it ranks second to cervical cancer. Globally, breast cancer is by far the most frequent cancer among women, with an estimated 1.67 million new cases diagnosed in 2012 (25% of all cancers) and ranks second overall (12% of all cancers). It is now the most common cancer both in developed (794,000 cases) and developing regions (883,000 cases). Objectives : 1. To study the risk factors for breast cancer among women attending MNJ Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad, Telangana. 2. To Study the association between risk factors and prevalence of breast cancer. Methodology : A hospital based case control study was conducted on 100 cases and 100 controls admitted and treated in MNJ Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad in December 2015. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information. Statistical Analysis: Frequency distribution, Descriptive analysis and Chi Square test were used. Statistical Analysis was done using MS Excel 2007 and Epi info version 7. Results: Women with age at first full term pregnancy >30 years had 3.14 times increased risk of breast cancer compared with age at full term pregnancy 30 years and the association was not significant (p>0.05), OR=3.14; 95% CI (0.61, 16.01). Breastfeeding for ?6 months had 2.57 times increased risk when compared to those who have breastfed for >6 months and the association was not significant (p>0.05), OR=2.57; 95% CI(0.94,7.04). Family history had an association with breast cancer (p 0.003). Conclusions: The cases had higher age at first full term pregnancy and lower duration of breast feeding when compared to the controls. Positive family history had a strong association with breast cancer.