Students:
Ala’ Nasser Eddin, Heba Odeh and Dania Tahboub
Abstract:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Palestinian women and the second most common cause of death, after heart disease.According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), and the Palestinian Health Information Center (PHIC) 2189 new cancer cases were reported in West Bank In 2013, (1127) cases were females (51.5%) and (1062) were males (48.5%). In 2013 the cancer incidence rate was (79.5) per 100,000 of population.
Breast cancer ranked first, with (401) reported cases, (18.3%) from all reported cases which are 35.5% of female cases.Breast cancer is the highest among females and focus in the age group between 20 -59. [1]
The main factors that influence the risk of having breast cancer include being a woman, being older and having changes in certain breast cancer genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2). In addition, studies have shown that some other factors may also influence the risk, such as being overweight, breastfeeding, contraceptive use, menopausal age, hormone therapy and family history. The aim of this study is to determine the major factors that are shared among women diagnosed with breast cancer in Palestine and whether these factors contribute to breast cancer risk development.
The study was carried out based on interviews and files of patients attending Biet-Jala hospital, An-Najah National hospital, and Al-Watani hospital during 2015. A specially diagnosed questionnaire consists of more than 24 questions relating to patient’s statement, medical and familial history was prepared for this purpose. 100 questionnaires were filled and the collected data was hand analyzed using calculating and fractions.
The age of the breast cancer patients was studied and results were compared to national proportions. Most women (44%) were diagnosed after the age of 50, and it’s the same with other national studies, as the chance of having breast cancer increases as the person get older.
Being overweight was also studied, 81% of the patients were overweight, and as a risk factor of breast cancer the result was as standards.
The results show that the patients had a family history of breast cancer, 32% for 1st relationship and 19% of the 2nd relationship, and there were two cases having a male patient.
Although the study was carried out in a short period of time (nearly two months), but it went smoothly and the patients and the hospitals were very collaborative, except for the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) which refused to allow us to gather any data.
