ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION:

Breast cancer is one of the most common maling tumour all over the world, and it accounts for about 30% of all cancer in women. This article discusses the breast cancer risks for the Turkish women, in relation to age, family and personal breast cancer history, childbearing age, menstrual history, and postmenopausal obesity criteria.

MATERIAL AND METHOD:

The sample consisted of 1085 women of ages 20 or above. Quiz Lists, approved as for use in the assessment of breast cancer risk by American Cancer Society and Turkish Ministry of Health, were used in risk evaluation.

RESULTS:

Of the subjects, 98.5% (n=1069) were found to be at low risk, 0.7% (n=8) at moderate risk, and 0.8% (n=6) at high risk risk of breast cancer.

CONCLUSION:

The study’s results have shown that women in Turkey are at low risk of developing breast cancer. However, increasing lifetime period and postmenopausal obesity are suggested to be factors that may pose risks for Turkish women in the future.