Sweets consumption and breast cancer risk among women in yemen: a matched case control study

Breast cancer among women is the most common type of cancer in Yemen. The risk factors contributing to this trend have not been thoroughly studied, creating challenges in prevention strategies.

A hospital-based matched case-control study was conducted to identify the association between sweet food consumption and breast cancer among women in Yemen. A total of 127 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer (cases) and 254 women who had never been diagnosed with any type of cancer (controls) were enrolled. The controls were matched to the cases based on age ± 2 years, place of residence (urban or rural), and menopausal status. Conditional logistic regression was used to accommodate the matching, and crude odds ratios (COR), adjusted odds ratio (AOR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. The level of significance was set at a p-value of less than 0.05.

Women who consumed sweets three to seven times per week (AOR, 5.27; 95% CI 2.35-11.79) or one to two times per week (AOR, 2.98; 95% CI 1.39-6.37) were almost five and three times more likely to have breast cancer, respectively. Similarly, those who consumed pan-fried bread three to seven times per week (AOR, 2.17; 95% CI 1.02-4.61) or one to two times per week (AOR, 2.12; 95% CI 1.14-3.92) were nearly two times more likely to have breast cancer than those who consumed it rarely or never. Additionally, having a family member with a history of any kind of cancer increased the risk of developing breast cancer by more than twofold (AOR, 2.19; 95% CI 1.27-3.78).

Health education campaigns are urgently needed to raise awareness among the population about the risks associated with frequent consumption of sweets and pan-fried bread in relation to breast cancer development among women.