Potential breast cancer risk factors among Saudi women aged 19-50 years in Jeddah: a case-control study

Tracking the epidemiological trends of female breast cancer in Saudi Arabia since 1990 and forecasting future statistics using global burden of disease data, time-series analysis

BACKGROUND

Female breast cancer stands as the prime type of cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), with a high incidence and mortality rates. This study assessed the burden of female breast cancer in KSA by analyzing and forecasting its incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

METHODS

We retrieved data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) about female breast cancer from 1990 to 2021. Time-series analysis used the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model to forecast female breast cancer statistics from 2022 to 2026.

RESULTS

From 1990 to 2021, KSA reported 77,513 cases of female breast cancer. The age groups with the highest number of cases are 45-49 years, followed by 40-44 years, 50-54 years, and 35-39 years. The analysis also showed fewer cases in the younger age groups, with the lowest number in the less than 20-year-old age group. From 1990 to 2021, KSA reported 19,440 deaths due to breast cancer, increasing from 201 cases in 1990 to 1,190 cases in 2021. The age-standardized incidence rate/100,000 of breast cancer increased from 15.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) 11.2-21.0) in 1990 to 46.0 (95%CI 34.5-61.5) in 2021. The forecasted incidence rate of female breast cancer will be 46.5 (95%CI 45.8-46.5) in 2022 and 49.6 (95%CI 46.8-52.3) in 2026. The age-standardized death rate per 100,000 Saudi women with breast cancer increased from 6.73 (95%CI 6.73-9.03) in 1990 to 9.77 (95%CI 7.63-13.00) in 2021. The forecasted female breast cancer death rate will slightly decrease to 9.67 (95%CI 9.49-9.84) in 2022 and to 9.26 (95%CI 8.37-10.15) in 2026. DALYs increased from 229.2 (95%CI 165.7-313.6) in 1990 to 346.1 (95%CI 253.9-467.2) in 2021. The forecasted DALYs of female breast cancer will slightly decrease to 343.3 (95%CI 337.2-349.5) in 2022 reaching 332.1 (95%CI 301.2-363.1) in 2026.

CONCLUSIONS

Female breast cancer is still a significant public health burden that challenges the health system in KSA, current policies and interventions should be fashioned to alleviate the disease morbidity and mortality and mitigate its future burden.

Family history and breast cancer risk for Asian women: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Studies of women of European ancestry have shown that the average familial relative risk for first-degree relatives of women with breast cancer is approximately twofold, but little is known for Asian women. We aimed to provide evidence for the association between family history and breast cancer risk for Asian women by systematically reviewing published literature.

METHODS

Studies reporting the familial relative risk of breast cancer for Asian women were searched in three online databases and complemented by a manual search. Odds ratios (ORs) for the association between family history and breast cancer risk were pooled across all included studies and by subgroups in terms of the type of family history, age, menopausal status and geographical region.

RESULTS

The pooled OR for women who have a first-degree relative with breast cancer was 2.46 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.03, 2.97). There was no evidence that the familial risk differed by the type of affected relative (mother versus sisters), the woman's age (< 50 years versus ≥ 50 years), menopausal status (pre versus post) and geographical region (East and Southeast Asia versus other regions) (all P > 0.3). The pooled ORs for women of Asian ancestry with a family history in any relative were similar for those living in non-Asian countries (2.26, 95% CI: 1.42, 3.59) compared with those living in Asian countries (2.18, 95% CI: 1.85, 2.58).

CONCLUSIONS

Family history of breast cancer is associated with an approximately twofold relative risk of breast cancer for Asian women, which is of similar magnitude to that observed for women of European ancestry. This implies that similar familial factors are implicated in breast cancer risk between women of European and Asian ancestries. Genetic factors are likely to play a substantial role in explaining the breast cancer familial risk for Asian women, as similar risks were observed across different living environments and cultures.

Consumption of Food Components of the Mediterranean Diet Decreases the Risk of Breast Cancer in the Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia: A Case-Control Study

Background

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, it affects both men and women. In Saudi Arabia, breast cancer has been the most prevalent type of cancer in women, for the past few years. Dietary habits and cultural beliefs vary according to region, and further studies are required to demonstrate the relationship between these dietary habits and cultural beliefs and the risk of developing breast cancer. This study is aimed to discover the relationship between preventive dietary factors of the Mediterranean diet and rates of breast cancer among postmenopausal women in the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A case-control study was conducted in King Abdulla Medical City Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia and included 432 Saudi female participants: 218 in the control group and 214 breast cancer patients. All participants were postmenopausal, around the same age, and all were ethnically Arab Saudis. Data were obtained using a self-administered validated questionnaire.

Results

Study results showed that a diet that includes 1-2 servings of legumes weekly, 1-5 servings of fish weekly, 1-5 servings of dairy products daily, 3-5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, and more than one cup of black tea and coffee per day significantly (p < 0.05) reduces the risk of breast cancer.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that consuming a Mediterranean diet, which includes legumes, fish, fruits and vegetables, black tea, coffee, and low intake of dairy products, works as a preventive factor against breast cancer in postmenopausal females from the Makkah region.

Individualized medicine enabled by genomics in Saudi Arabia

The biomedical research sector in Saudi Arabia has recently received special attention from the government, which is currently supporting research aimed at improving the understanding and treatment of common diseases afflicting Saudi Arabian society. To build capacity for research and training, a number of centres of excellence were established in different areas of the country. Among these, is the Centre of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research (CEGMR) at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, with its internationally ranked and highly productive team performing translational research in the area of individualized medicine. Here, we present a panorama of the recent trends in different areas of biomedical research in Saudi Arabia drawing from our vision of where genomics will have maximal impact in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We describe advances in a number of research areas including; congenital malformations, infertility, consanguinity and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, cancer and genomic classifications in Saudi Arabia, epigenetic explanations of idiopathic disease, and pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. We conclude that CEGMR will continue to play a pivotal role in advances in the field of genomics and research in this area is facing a number of challenges including generating high quality control data from Saudi population and policies for using these data need to comply with the international set up.