LB35
Does inbreeding lead to decreased incidence of breast cancer?
Abdulbari Bener, Hanadi Rafii El Ayoubi, Awab Ibrahim Ali, Aisha Al-Kubaisi, Haya Al-Sulaiti, Lotfi Chouchane
Weill Cornell Medical College & Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Background
In the Middle East region, consanguinity remains to be a central feature
where it has shown continuous increasing trend. Breast cancer is an extremely
complex disease, characterised 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 inbreeding on
the risk of breast cancer in a population with a high rate of consanguinity and
find the associated risk-modifying factors.
Method
The study included 167 Qatari and 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 tumour grade was designed to collect, the
information of cases and controls.
Results
The study revealed that the rate of parental consanguinity was lower in
breast cancer patients (24%) than in controls (32.3%) (p=0.054). Female
controls were slightly younger (46.511.9) than breast cancer patients
(48.410.7). The proportion of breast cancer was significantly lower 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%) was significantly higher in female breast cancer
patients compared to controls (p=0.028). Overall, the mean coefficient of
inbreeding was lower in breast cancer patients (0.014) than in controls (0.018)
(p=0.125). 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.
