Prevalence of risk factors in breast cancer patients at the University Hospital of the West Indies

The records of one hundred and twenty consecutive patients diagnosed with carcinoma of the breast were examined between July 1996 and June 1999 in order to estimate the prevalence of established risk factors for this disease. Early menarche was present in 5.5% of patients, while 36 subjects (30%) were nulliparous and 6 (5%) had a first live birth after age 30 years. Four subjects had a previous biopsy with histological features of atypical hyperplasia. Fifteen subjects (12.5%) had one or more affected first degree relatives. Fifty-four per cent of subjects possessed none of the risk factors examined in this study while 36% had a single risk factor and 10% possessed two risk factors. There was no significant clustering of risk factors in the group of patients aged thirty-five years or less. Larger studies should be encouraged to identify the risk factors which operate in our population and the degree to which published predictive variables are applicable.