Hafsia Mariem, El Maalel Olfa, Ben Ahmed Slim, Kacem Imene, Maoua Maher, Chatti Souhail, Mrizek Najib
Known risk factors of breast cancer only explain a minority of cases. Other environmental, occupational and lifestyle-related risk factors have also been suggested to play a role. The aim of our study was to assess the relationship between lifestyle and occupational factors and breast cancer risk. In order to do this, a case-control study was conducted on 110 women with histological confirmed breast cancer during the 2013–2016 period at Farhat Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia, and 150 cancer-free controls matched by age (within 5-year intervals). A semi-quantitative estimate of exposure to self-reported occupational risk factors taking into account the daily exposure frequency (H), the exposure duration in years (D) and the exposure level (N) was recorded. One occupational condition, pesticide exposure, was independently associated with breast cancer (pa=0.003; ORa=8.68 95%CI [2.11-35.55]). Being overweight and dairy product consumption were also factors independently associated with breast cancer (pa=0.000; ORa =3.44 95% CI = [ 1.82,6.52] and pa=0.001, ORa= 6.74 95%CI = [2.13-21.27] respectively). Our results suggest a role for lifestyle and work-related factors in increasing the risk of developing breast cancer.
