Assessment of breast cancer risk in Morocco

Breast cancer is a multifactorial disease with strongly interacting risk factors including genetic susceptibility, environment and lifestyle. Breast cancer incidence varies between regions, within ethnic groups and across environmental differences, necessitating the local study of risk factor profiles. The Moroccan population suffers from a higher incidence rate of invasive breast cancer potentially attributable to unique local factors, such as pesticide exposure. Assessment of these factors provides health care systems with better information to detect and prevent breast cancer in Morocco and perhaps use or adjust U.S. screening and preventive strategies tailored to local risk assessment. We aim to collect and use data from the Moroccan population to identify and assess local risk factors and have digitized nearly 3000 breast cancer patient medical records. Presently, we are using REDCap (Research Electronic Database Capture) to collect digitized medical records and create a comprehensive Moroccan Breast Cancer Risk assessment survey tool which will allow Moroccan sites to participate in this nation-wide agenda. Preliminary results show major differences in the distribution of risk factors and breast cancer subtypes among rural women (73% of total) versus urban women (27% of total). Also, initial assessments indicate that over half of women living near Casablanca have dense breast tissue, which indicate that a chemoprevention strategy may serve as a key preventive tactic. Results from this study will produce a web-based resource to collect and analyze data throughout Morocco, thereby benefitting the entire country's population across diverse ethnic, cultural and environmental backgrounds.