Association between body mass index and risk of breast cancer among females of north India.
BACKGROUND
Worldwide, breast cancer is most common cancer among women. In India and other developing countries, breast carcinoma ranks second only to cervical carcinoma among women. Although studies have been done globally, to find association between BMI and breast cancer, very few studies in India document any such association.


OBJECTIVE
To find out the association between BMI and breast cancer.


METHODS
A Case-control study was done from August 2009 - July 2010 in the wards of General Surgery and Oncosurgery at Pt.B.D.Sharma, PGIMS Rohtak, Haryana. A total of 128 histopathologically confirmed new cases of breast cancer during the study period were taken as cases. Equal number of controls was selected by simple random sampling. Controls were matched for age with range of ±2 years. Subjects were interviewed using a pretested questionnaire after obtaining written informed consent. Data were analyzed by applying appropriate statistical tests using SPSS version 17.


RESULTS
Age group of the cases was 25 - 78 years, while that of the controls was 24 - 79 years. Proportion of cases and controls living in rural areas were more than those living in urban areas. A significant association of breast cancer cases was found with high BMI and high fat intake.


CONCLUSIONS
Obesity and high fat intake are the significant risk factors, which are modifiable. So women should be encouraged to take care of all these factors. Maximum cases presented in late stages so public awareness of this fatal disease must be developed.
Department of General Surgery, Pt. B. D. Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
Mahavir
M
Singh
Department of Community Medicine, Pt. B. D. Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
Babita
B
Jangra
Association; body mass index; breast cancer