Dietary Fat, Obesity, Estrogen Level and Breast Cancer Risk in Saudi Female: A Case-Control Study.
Authors: Abulkhair O. 
Published: December 2010

Introduction:Globally, breast cancer is the most common among women with 50% expected increase in global incidence and mortality between the years 2002 and 2020 and majority of this rise will be in the developing countries.Despite the reported low incidence of breast cancer in Saudi Arabia (SA), a recent paper was published which estimated that the future burden of breast cancer in SA is expected to increase by about 350% by 2025.This rise in incidence is attributed to many factors, one of them is a change in diet and the high consumption of energy intake relative to needs.The National Nutrition survey showed that per capita energy intake rose from 1801 kcal in 1971 to 3082 kcal in 1992. Percent of energy from carbohydrates decreased from 75% to 43% and from fat increased from 10% to 42% during the same period. In addition, studies showed that prevalence of moderate obesity (BMI 30-40kg/m²) was 41.9% and 5.1 were morbidly obese (BMI &gt;40 kg/m²) and the high risk group for obesity were multiparous housewife.More than 100 western studies reported the association of weight or BMI, dietary fat, estrogen level and breast cancer, scanty studies is done in SA that addressed this issue.Objective:To study the association between dietary fat intake, body mass index, serum estrogen level and breast cancer risks among Saudi female.Method:A case-control study enrolled 122 Saudi female, 40 with newly-diagnosed breast cancer and 82 were randomly selected of matched age group as control.Dietary history was collected in two ways: Three-day food record.Food frequency questionnaire by interview.Blood test after 12 hours fasting for LDL, HDL, Triglyceride and Estrogen LevelResults:Total of 40 cases and 82 control were analyzed between the period of February 1, 2008 until the end of May 30, 2008. 52.5% (21 subjects) had breast cancer after menopause and 47.5% (14 subjects) premenopausal. The number of pregnancies was significantly (p&lt;0.01) higher among the patients compared to the mean number of control subjects (6.1. versus 4.1).The data illustrated that the mean body mass index of patients was 30.9kg/m² versus 27.9 kg/m² for control with P value of &lt;0.01 which is significant. Also, the mean fat mass of patients was 39.6 versus 36.9 for control with a P value of &lt;0.05 and again, this is significant. The mean height among patients was 157cm versus 161cm for control with P value of &lt;0.01, also significant. The mean level of estrogen is higher among patients with high fat intake and obese versus the control with P value &lt;0.05.Conclusion:Our data suggests that obesity and diet high in fat may predispose to breast cancer development. Our study confirms the findings by Toniolo, et al and Zaridze, et al which showed positive association between high dietary fat intake and breast cancer.Recommendation:Educate the population about the possibility of link between dietary habits and breast cancer and encourage them to adopt diet that is low in calories, saturated fate and red meat intake.More studies regarding multiple pregnancy and breast cancer risk should be done.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 6070.