Patterns of breast cancer screening in women who utilized clinical services at the Trinidad & Tobago Cancer Society during 2009-2011

Trinidad and Tobago (TT) experiences the highest breast cancer mortality in the Caribbean; the distribution of traditional breast cancer risk factors in this population has not been analyzed. Data on women who underwent breast cancer screening at the TT Cancer Society between January 2009–December 2011(N =  2,689) were retrospectively collected. The screening detected 131 incident breast cancers; variables significantly associated with breast cancer diagnosis were, a positive family history of breast cancer (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj ]: 1.55; 95 % CI 1.00–2.41), presence of symptoms (ORadj : 1.91; 95 % CI 1.25–2.92), and previous breast surgery (ORadj : 1.67; 95 % CI 0.97–2.88). Breast cancer was significantly associated with increased breast density. Among healthy women, breast density was positively associated with nulliparity (ORadj : 1.46, 1.37, 2.52 respectively for density level 2, 3 and 4 vs. 1) and previous breast surgeries (ORadj : 2.27, 3.09 and 4.13 respectively for density level 2, 3 and 4 vs. 1). This analysis confirms that breast density is an important predictor of newly diagnosed breast cancer in this Caribbean population. Screening is still a diagnostic tool rather than a preventive measure in TT.