Open Access

Influence of cultural practices on breast cancer risks, stage at presentation and outcome in a multi‑ethnic developing country (Review)

  • Authors:
    • Norlia Abdullah
    • Norazlina Mohamed
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: September 23, 2021     https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.13067
  • Article Number: 806
  • Copyright: © Abdullah et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Malaysia is a developing country made up of three main ethnicities: Malay, Chinese and Indian. There are significant ethnic differences with regard to the type of daily food and cooking methods, contraception, breast‑feeding preferences, confinement period and care, postmenopausal intake and influence of the traditional healer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Malaysian women across all three ethnicities. However, the National Cancer Registry and local medical centres have documented ethnic differences in breast cancer risk (Chinese, 40.7 per 100,000; Indian, 38.1 per 100,000; Malay, 31.5 per 100,000), peak age (youngest in the Malays), stage at presentation (largest percentage at advanced stage among the Malays) and survival (poorest survival rate among the Malays). The Malays have several practices that are protective against breast cancer compared with the Chinese. However, the Malays have strong beliefs in the traditional healer, which contribute to the delay in getting treatment, causing a poor outcome and a low survival rate. The highest BRCA1 and 2 genetic mutation incidence is amongst the Chinese, but the Malays have the largest triple‑negative breast cancer rates. These factors may also contribute to the statistical breast cancer data.
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November-2021
Volume 22 Issue 5

Print ISSN: 1792-1074
Online ISSN:1792-1082

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Copy and paste a formatted citation
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Spandidos Publications style
Abdullah N and Abdullah N: Influence of cultural practices on breast cancer risks, stage at presentation and outcome in a multi‑ethnic developing country (Review). Oncol Lett 22: 806, 2021
APA
Abdullah, N., & Abdullah, N. (2021). Influence of cultural practices on breast cancer risks, stage at presentation and outcome in a multi‑ethnic developing country (Review). Oncology Letters, 22, 806. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.13067
MLA
Abdullah, N., Mohamed, N."Influence of cultural practices on breast cancer risks, stage at presentation and outcome in a multi‑ethnic developing country (Review)". Oncology Letters 22.5 (2021): 806.
Chicago
Abdullah, N., Mohamed, N."Influence of cultural practices on breast cancer risks, stage at presentation and outcome in a multi‑ethnic developing country (Review)". Oncology Letters 22, no. 5 (2021): 806. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.13067