Does consanguinity lead to decreased incidence of breast cancer?

Bener, Abdulbari; Ayoubi, Hanadi Rafii El; Ali, Awab Ibrahim; Al-Kubaisi, Aisha; Al-Sulaiti, Haya

doi:10.1016/j.canep.2010.04.004

« Previous Next »Cancer Epidemiology
Volume 34, Issue 4 , Pages 413-418, August 2010

Does consanguinity lead to decreased incidence of breast cancer?

Abdulbari Bener
- Dept. of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Hamad General Hospital, Qatar
- Dept. Evidence for Population Health Unit, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- Dept. of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar
- Corresponding author at: Dept. of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Weill Cornell Medical College, PO Box 3050, Doha, Qatar. Tel.: +974 439 3765/3766; fax: +974 439 3769.
Hanadi Rafii El Ayoubi
- Dept. of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar
- Dept. of Oncology & Hematology, Al Amal Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar
Awab Ibrahim Ali
- Dept. of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar
Aisha Al-Kubaisi
- Dept. of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar
Haya Al-Sulaiti
- Dept. of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar

Accepted 9 April 2010. published online 26 April 2010.

Abstract

Background: In the Middle East region, consanguinity remains to be a central feature where it has shown an increasing trend. Breast cancer is an extremely complex disease, characterized by a progressive multistep process caused by interactions of both environmental and genetic factors. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the possible effect of consanguinity on the risk of breast cancer in a population with a high rate of consanguinity and find the associated risk-modifying factors. Subjects and methods: The study included 167 Qatari and other Arab expatriates women with breast cancer and 341 age and ethnicity matched control women. A questionnaire that included the socio-demographic information, type of consanguinity, medical history, life style habits, dietary intake and tumor grade was designed to collect, the information of cases and controls. A total number of 214 breast cancer patients were approached and 167 cases completed the questionnaires with a response rate of 78%. Of the 417 healthy women who agreed to participate in this study, 341 responded to the questionnaire (81.8%). Results: The study revealed that the rate of parental consanguinity was lower in breast cancer patients (24%) than in controls (32.3%) (p=0.062). Female controls were slightly younger (46.5±11.9) than breast cancer patients (48.4±10.7). Breast cancer incidence was significantly higher in Qatari women (34.1%) compared to other Arab women (65.9%) (p=0.034). A significant difference was noted only in occupation of the studied women between cases and controls (p<0.001). Overweight (46.7%) and obesity (32.9%) were significantly higher in female breast cancer patients compared to controls (p=0.028). Overall, the mean coefficient of consanguinity was lower in breast cancer patients (0.014) than in controls (0.018) (p=0.0125). Family history of breast cancer was significantly more often in breast cancer patients (14.4%) than in controls (6.2%) (p=0.002). However, the family history of breast cancer was more often positive in cases of non-consanguineous parents (15.7%) than cases of consanguineous parents (10.0%). Conclusion: The present study revealed the lack of association between of breast cancer and the parental consanguinity in Arab women residing in Qatar. The family history of breast cancer and the body mass index (BMI) are highly associated with breast cancer.