title: Does consanguinity lead to decreased incidence of breast cancer?
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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  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%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar. abener@hmc.org.qa
authors.forename: Abdulbari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bener
authors.forename: Hanadi Rafii El
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Ayoubi
authors.forename: Awab Ibrahim
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Kubaisi
authors.forename: Haya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Sulaiti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003241:Consanguinity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011780:Qatar / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult