Risk Factors of Breast Cancer in Kuwait: Case-Control Study

Background: breast cancer incidence has increased rapidly inkuwait, but there haven't been any studies investigating therecognized risk factors of breast cancer in kuwait. the aim ofthe study was to investigate breast cancer risk factors amongwomen in kuwait.methods: a case-control study was conducted in kuwait frommay 2003 to march 2004 using a questionnaire includingsocio-dernographic data and breast cancer risk factors betweentwo groups of women. cases were women with confirmeddiagnoses of breast cancer within the last 2 years; they wereselected from kuwait cancer control centre (kccc), controlswere women with no history of breast cancer. they wererecruited from primary health care centers using random table.the selected age group was women of 30-65. risk factors thatmodulate the development of breast cancer assessed in this studywere: socio-demographic characteristics, reproductive history,exogenous hormones, and family history of breast cancer.results: the total participants were 1070, breast cancer caseswere 514 (48%) and the controls were 556 (52%), the majorityof breast cancer cases were of 40-49 age group, breast cancerrisk increased with menopause, recent hormone replacementtherapy and family history of breast cancer.conclusion: this study confirmed a number of recognizedrisk factors contributing in the development of breast cancer inkuwait. it revealed that cases of breast cancers were relativelyyoung in age; this should raise the anxiety of health care providersin kuwait.