Influence of Dietary Habits, Physical Activity and Affluence Factors on Breast Cancer in East India - A Case-control Study

The upward trend in breast cancer globally and in India has become a matter of great concern. The higherincidences generally seen in developed countries has lead to the postulation that the disease is due to life style sothat growing industrialization and urbanization may be a major factor. Keeping this in mind, the present casecontrolstudy was undertaken in Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata from 2002 to 2003, focusingon 267 female breast cancer patients and an equal number of age matched controls. The analysis of studyreports demonstrated a positive correlation with a higher standard of living, higher educational status, andhigher intake of animal protein, fat and deep fried foods. This study is the first report from Eastern India toattempt to correlate different life style and dietary factors with breast cancer development.