Risk of Incidence of Breast Cancer in Relationship to Age and BMI

Objective: To evaluate the association between different age groups and body mass index (BMI) and the incidence of breast cancer (BC) among clinically suspected women. Methodology: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Radiology, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, based primarily on hospital records, with a few cases assessed cross-sectionally from May to October 2024. The study included all female patients aged 18 years or older who were clinically diagnosed with breast cancer and had histopathological confirmation, along with complete clinical records, including age, height, weight (for BMI calculation), menopausal status, and cancer stage. All patients and their medical records were assessed according to the inclusion criteria. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26. Results: The overall mean age of the patients was 44.3 ± 14.8 years, and the mean BMI was 25.9 ± 4.7 kg/m². The most common breast condition was fibrocystic changes (30.0%), followed by breast cancer (25.6%), benign lumps (20.0%), mastitis (15.6%), and intraductal papilloma (8.9%). Analysis revealed a significant association between breast cancer and women aged >40 years, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.26 (95% CI: 0.08–0.85; p = 0.019). Similarly, BMI showed a significant association, with an odds ratio of 0.12 for overweight/obese women (95% CI: 0.03–0.45; p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study revealed that older age and higher BMI are significantly associated with an increased risk of breast cancer among women presenting with different breast conditions.