Risk factors for breast cancer in women undergoing mammography.

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Abstract
To determine risk factors for carcinoma of the breast, the authors compared women with cancer on screening and diagnostic mammography with those in whom cancer was not detected. For 39 months, medical histories were collected by mammography technologists on 3492 women having routine screenings or diagnostic mammograms at their institution. Potential risk factors for women with biopsy-proven breast cancer were compared with those in women who had normal findings on mammograms or negative biopsy results (controls). Of the 3492 women, 49 had biopsy-proven breast cancer. There were 3361 patients in the control group, including those women with normal findings on mammograms (3294) and those with negative biopsy results (67). 82 women had incomplete questionnaires or were lost to follow up. Nearly all of those with breast cancer were postmenopausal compared with 68% of the controls. The mean length of lactation for breast cancer patients was significantly less than for the controls; 5.6 vs 7.5 weeks (p=.015). This was also true for the postmenopausal patients; 8.1 vs 6.1 weeks (p=.041). Postmenopausal breast cancer patients had menstruated significantly more years (p=.016) than postmenopausal control subjects: 34 vs 31 years, although the mean age at menarche was not different. When corrected for age, there was no significant difference in the total duration of menstruation in the postmenopausal cancer patients compared with the postmenopausal controls. Postmenopausal breast cancer patients had a significantly greater (p=.021) average body weight than postmenopausal control subjects: 71.7 vs 66.7 kg, although body weight was the same when all patients were considered. similar results were found when Quetelet's index for obesity (weight in kg/height in cm2 (p=.004) was calculated for postmenopausal patients: 28 for cancer patients and 26 for controls. There was no significant difference in height between cancer patients and controls when all subjects or just those who were postmenopausal were considered. History of oral contraceptive (OC) use was significantly less common among postmenopausal breast cancer patients than among postmenopausal controls: 9% vs 20%. Patients with breast cancer had lower parity than the controls. In this series of patients, women in whom breast cancer was detected on mammography lactated less, showed no significant difference in years of menstruation when corrected for age, had a greater average body weight, used OCs less often, and had fewer children than women in whom no cancer was detected on mammography.

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