<b>Breast cancer and associated factors</b> - DOI: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v7i0.6566

Abstract

The most prevalent cause of death of Brazilian woman is breast cancer, representing approximately 20% of tumors and 15% of deaths. The aim of this study was to analyze the occurrence of associated risk factors to breast cancer among mastectomized women. It was an exploratory and descriptive study with a sample of 19 women who had undergone mastectomy and later treated with prosthesis or physiotherapy services during the period from March 2004 to April 2005 at the Dom Aquino Correa Rehabilitation Center Foundation in the city of Cuiabá (Mato Grosso State, Brazil). Data was collected through a closed-question questionnaire. All of the 19 researched women presented at least one of the factors potential risk factors for breast cancer. It was possible to verify that the sample was composed of young women of working age. The most frequent incidence of breast cancer occurred between the ages of 43 and 53. Breast cancer revealed itself in this population as a disease that takes place in women with more than one child and who had breastfed their babies. Women with breast cancer did not present family history of this disease, although the majority of them did have close relatives with associated malignancies in other organs.