Height assessment as a risk factor for breast cancer in Brazilian Women

Objective: to evaluate the height of patients with and without breast cancer based on the national average height of Brazilian women, and to verify whether women who are taller than average are at increased risk. Methods: 100 patients attended at the Mastology outpatient clinic, and 100 patients attended at the Gynecological Endocrinology Outpatient Clinic were selected. From the data contained in their medical records, we obtained the heights of the 200 women who were grouped into the control group and the breast cancer group. Results: women with breast cancer, we found a mean of 1.59m in height, age from 28 to 97 years, whereas among the control group patients, the mean height was 1.55m, age ranging from 43 to 73 years. For these analyses, we use the ROC curve and logistic regression, which also showed a height cutoff point of 1.55m, above which there is an increased risk for breast cancer, with 78% sensitivity, and 50% specificity. In addition, there is a 20% increased probability of risk for breast cancer for every 10cm of height gain. Conclusion: The results observed in this work reinforce those previously found in other studies, according to which the greater the height, the greater the risk factor for developing breast cancer.