Association of reproductive factors with the incidence of breast cancer in Gulf Cooperation Council countries

This article presents the incidence of female breast cancer in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and reviews the data in relation to established reproductive factors. Overall 4480 female breast cancer cases were diagnosed during 1998–2002 among GCC country nationals. Breast cancer was the most common malignancy in all GCC countries, ranging from 16.1% of female cancers in Oman to 35.4% in Bahrain. The age-standardized incidence rate per 100 000 was highest in Bahrain(46.4), followed by Kuwait (44.3), Qatar (35.5), United Arab Emirates (19.2), Oman (14.4) and SaudiArabia (12.9). These rates are low compared with most industrialized countries.