PROFILE OF BREAST CANCER AMONG WOMEN IN KELANTAN

Abstract

Breast cancer is the commonest female cancer in Malaysia with a prevalence of 86.2 cases /Jer 100,000 women in 1996. Profiling breast cancer patients is important for better planning of preventive and screening strategies for Malaysian women. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to identify histological presentation, socio-demographic and reproductive characteristics and prevalence of risk or protective factors of breast cancer among women with breast cancer in Kelantan. A total of 175 female breast cancer patients who were diagnosed in 1991 to 2000, we1·e interviewed using standardized questionnaires. The mean (sd) age was 47.0 (9.6) years with 77.7% Malay, 20.6% Chinese and 1.7% others. About half (52.6%) had 9 years or less of formal education, while 59 .4% were housewives/unemployed and 60.6% had a monthly family income of less than RM1,000. The commonest histological type was infiltrative ductal carcinoma (73 .7%). Presentation of breast cancer with the stage lll or Vl was 59 .4%. The prevalence of nulliparity -13. 1 %, breastfeeding longer than two years -58.9%, premenstrual period-72.0%, menarche at 11 years old or less -5 .7%, positive family history -14.4%, overweight/obesity -48.0%, oral contraceptives use -30.3%, hormone replacement therapy -1.1%, cigarette smoking-4.6%, consuming alcohol-3.4%, previous benign breast disease -6.3%, previous breast biopsy -2 .9% and previous oophorectomy -4. 6%. The patients were younger compared to other studies. The ethnic distribution did not represent the population distribution of Kelantan. The prevalence of overweight/obesity and smoking were higher than the national prevalence among women, thus they should be included in the prevention strategies for breast cancer. Further studies are recommended to investigate why many of breast cancer patients in Kelantan presented at a younger age and at advanced stages of cancer.