Differences in oestrogen receptor status and histological grade of breast cancer in different religious communities...

The various religious communities in India viz.Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi have different breast cancer incidence rate. It is not known whether there might also exist differences in biological properties of breast cancer between these communities. To investigate this possibility we have studied the distribution of oestrogen receptor (ER) status and histological grade of tumour in these four communities. Significant differences were observed in the overall distribution of ER positivity and histological grade between the communities P less than for both parameters). Christians had the highest incidence of ER +ve (65.2%) and grade I + II tumours (16.0%), while Muslims had the lowest incidence of ER +ve (35.8%) and Grade I + II tumours (4.7%). In general, we found a significant positive relationship between ER status and age of the patient (p less than 0.0.1). The mean age of the christians was slightly but significantly higher than that of the Hindus and Muslim. The difference ER positivity between the communities might, therefore, be partly (but probably not wholly) explained by difference in age of the patients. However, the difference with respect to grade of tumour cannot be explained as a function of age since no significant association was found between grade of the tumour and age of the patient. Further investigation with respect to difference in the biology of the breast cancer between the communities are warranted.