Demographic characteristics and clinical history of the study sample_
| Total | Age <50 years (n = 188) | Age ≥50 years (n = 312) | p-Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | kg | 83.33 ± 9.91 | 83.45 ± 11.01 | 83.26 ± 9.19 | 0.84 |
| Marital status | Single | 38 (7.6%) | 13 (6.9%) | 25 (8.0%) | <0.0001 |
| Married | 402 (80.4%) | 169 (89.9%) | 233 (74.7%) | ||
| Widowed/divorced | 60 (12.0%) | 6 (3.2%) | 54 (17.3%) | ||
| Number of children | 0 | 53 (10.6%) | 18 (9.6%) | 35 (11.2%) | <0.0001 |
| 1–2 | 153 (30.6%) | 85 (45.2%) | 68 (21.8%) | ||
| 3–5 | 250 (50.0%) | 77 (41.0%) | 173 (55.4%) | ||
| ≥6 | 44 (8.8%) | 8 (8.4%) | 36 (11.5%) | ||
| Residence | Baghdad | 405 (81.0%) | 146 (77.7%) | 259 (83.0%) | 0.16 |
| Other | 95 (19.0%) | 42 (22.3%) | 53 (17.0%) | ||
| Illiterate | 167 (33.4%) | 40 (21.3%) | 127 (40.7%) | ||
| Education level | Primary school | 180 (36.0%) | 78 (41.5%) | 102 (32.7%) | <0.0001 |
| High school | 96 (19.2%) | 39 (20.7%) | 57 (18.3%) | ||
| University or higher | 57 (11.4%) | 31 (16.5%) | 26 (8.3%) | ||
| Employment | Unemployed | 298 (59.6%) | 75 (39.9%) | 223 (71.5%) | <0.0001 |
| Employed | 202 (40.4%) | 113 (60.1%) | 89 (28.5%) | ||
| Socioeconomic status | Low | 58 (11.6%) | 19 (10.1%) | 39 (12.5%) | 0.38 |
| Middle | 240 (48.0%) | 86 (45.7%) | 154 (49.4%) | ||
| High | 202 (40.4%) | 83 (44.1%) | 119 (38.1%) | ||
| Smoking | 42 (8.4%) | 16 (8.5%) | 26 (8.3%) | 0.95 | |
| Coffee drinking | No | 457 (91.4%) | 166 (88.3%) | 291 (93.3%) | 0.06 |
| 1–2 times per day | 43 (8.6%) | 22 (11.7%) | 21 (6.7%) | ||
| Physical activity | No | 472 (94.4%) | 173 (92.0%) | 299 (95.8%) | 0.07 |
| 1–2 times per week | 28 (5.6%) | 15 (8.0%) | 13 (4.2%) | ||
| Age at menarche | Years | 12.44 ± 1.39 | 12.73 ± 1.36 | 12.27 ± 1.39 | 0.83 |
| <20 years | 69 (15.5%) | 15 (8.9%) | 54 (19.5%) | ||
| Age when first child | 20–29 | 348 (78.0%) | 139 (82.2%) | 209 (75.5%) | 0.001 |
| 30–35 | 20 (4.5%) | 13 (7.7%) | 7 (2.5%) | ||
| ≥35 | 9 (2.0%) | 2 (1.2%) | 7 (2.5%) | ||
| History of breastfeeding | 443 (99.3%) | 167 (98.8%) | 276 (99.6%) | 0.56 | |
| Breastfeeding duration | 1–3 months | 161 (36.1%) | 82 (48.5%) | 79 (28.5%) | <0.0001 |
| 4–6 months | 167 (37.4%) | 57 (33.7%) | 110 (39.7%) | ||
| 7–9 months | 110 (24.7%) | 25 (14.8%) | 85 (30.7%) | ||
| 10–12 months | 5 (1.1%) | 3 (1.8%) | 2 (0.7%) | ||
| Abortion | 104 (20.8%) | 31 (16.5%) | 73 (23.4%) | 0.07 | |
| Past medical history | Diabetes mellitus | 106 (21.2%) | 13 (6.9%) | 93 (29.8%) | <0.0001 |
| Hypertension | 236 (47.2%) | 36 (19.1%) | 200 (64.1%) | <0.0001 | |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 37 (7.4%) | 1 (0.5%) | 36 (11.5%) | <0.0001 | |
| Thyroid disease | 14 (3.2%) | 4 (2.4%) | 10 (3.8%) | 0.42 | |
| Heart disease | 26 (6.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 26 (9.8%) | <0.0001 | |
| Renal disease | 5 (1.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 5 (1.6%) | 0.16 | |
| Vitamin D deficiency | 137 (27.4%) | 41 (21.8%) | 96 (30.8%) | 0.03 | |
| Anemia | 38 (7.6%) | 9 (4.8%) | 29 (9.3%) | 0.07 | |
| Benign breast disease | 11 (3.3%) | 3 (2.4%) | 8 (3.9%) | 0.54 | |
| Past surgical history | Yes | 5 (1.0%) | 1 (0.5%) | 4 (1.3%) | 0.002 |
| C-section | 56 (11.2%) | 33 (17.6%) | 23 (7.4%) | ||
| Menopause | 279 (55.8%) | 6 (3.2%) | 273 (87.5%) | <0.0001 | |
| Menopause age | Years | 49.69 ± 3.85 | 45.50 ± 2.65 | 49.75 ± 3.83 | 0.03 |
| 263 (52.6%) | 93 (49.5%) | 170 (54.5%) | 0.28 | ||
| Family history of breast cancer | First-degree relatives | 151 (57.4%) | 62 (66.7%) | 89 (52.4%) | 0.03 |
| Second-degree relatives | 156 (59.3%) | 53 (57.0%) | 103 (60.6%) | 0.57 | |
| Family history of any cancer | 51 (10.2%) | 21 (11.2%) | 30 (9.6%) | 0.58 |
Patients’ treatment and outcome_
| Total | Age <50 years (n = 188) | Age ≥50 years (n = 312) | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hormone therapy | 331 (66.2%) | 123 (65.4%) | 208 (66.7%) | 0.78 |
| Radiotherapy | 411 (82.2%) | 155 (82.4%) | 256 (82.1%) | 0.91 |
| Metastasis | 149 (29.8%) | 43 (22.9%) | 106 (34.0%) | 0.009 |
| Recurrence | 52 (10.4%) | 17 (9.0%) | 35 (11.2%) | 0.44 |
| Mortality | 98 (19.6%) | 24 (12.8%) | 74 (23.7%) | 0.003 |
Clinical presentation of the examined study sample_
| Total | Age <50 years (n = 188) | Age ≥50 years (n = 312) | p-Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tumor stage | 0 | 4 (0.8%) | 1 (0.5%) | 3 (1.0%) | 0.26 |
| 1 | 72 (14.4%) | 25 (13.3%) | 47 (15.1%) | ||
| 2 | 339 (67.8%) | 122 (64.9%) | 217 (69.6%) | ||
| 3 | 73 (14.6%) | 36 (19.1%) | 37 (11.9%) | ||
| 4 | 12 (2.4%) | 4 (2.1%) | 8 (2.6%) | ||
| Tumor grade | 1 | 12 (2.4%) | 1 (0.5%) | 11 (3.5%) | 0.04 |
| 2 | 268 (53.7%) | 110 (58.5%) | 158 (50.8%) | ||
| 3 | 219 (43.9%) | 77 (41.0%) | 142 (45.7%) | ||
| Tumor size | 3.18 ± 1.50 | 3.30 ± 1.73 | 3.09 ± 1.34 | 0.26 | |
| Tumor side | Right | 169 (33.8%) | 60 (31.9%) | 109 (34.9%) | 0.54 |
| Left | 326 (65.2%) | 127 (67.6%) | 199 (63.8%) | ||
| Bilateral | 5 (1.0%) | 1 (0.5%) | 4 (1.3%) | ||
| Lymph node | N0 | 259 (51.8%) | 109 (58.0%) | 150 (48.1%) | 0.08 |
| N1 | 208 (41.6%) | 65 (34.6%) | 143 (45.8%) | ||
| N2 | 21 (4.2%) | 10 (5.3%) | 11 (3.5%) | ||
| N3 | 12 (2.4%) | 4 (2.1%) | 8 (2.6%) | ||
| Palpable lump | 410 (82.0%) | 153 (81.4%) | 257 (82.4%) | 0.78 | |
| Bloody nipple discharge | 55 (11.0%) | 15 (8.0%) | 40 (12.8%) | 0.09 | |
| Ulceration change | 11 (2.2%) | 1 (0.5%) | 10 (3.2%) | 0.06 | |
| 500 (100.0%) | 188 (100.0%) | 312 (100.0%) | - | ||
| Breast surgery | Partial mastectomy | 424 (84.8%) | 155 (82.4%) | 269 (86.2%) | 0.26 |
| Total mastectomy | 99 (19.8%) | 44 (23.4%) | 55 (17.6%) | 0.12 | |
| Ductal carcinoma | 463 (92.6%) | 177 (94.1%) | 286 (91.7%) | ||
| Lobular carcinoma | 33 (6.6%) | 8 (4.3%) | 25 (8.0%) | ||
| Histopathologic subtype | Tubular | 1 (0.2%) | 1 (0.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.09 |
| Mucinous (colloid) | 1 (0.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.3%) | ||
| Other rare type | 2 (0.4%) | 2 (1.1%) | 0 (0.0%) |