Authors: Cornelli Umberto, Belcaro Giovanni, Recchia Martino.
Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA), chlamydia and HIV infections were found to be directly correlated with prostate cancer (PCa).
Objective: To determine if the same diseases were correlated also with breast cancer (BCa).
Material and Methods: Among the 191 countries listed by WHO, the analysis was conducted in 49 countries with an approved cancers and diseases registry. BCa values in terms of Age Standardized Death Rate x 100000 people (ASDR) in the years 2000, 2010, and 2016 were compared in relation to IDA, HIV, and chlamydia infections.
The ecological, demographical/social, economical and environmental variables (in total 17) were also used to determine a possible correlation with BCa. The Stepwise analysis and the Prevision profiler method were used to determine the correlations between all the variables and BCa.
Results: A significant reduction of ASDRs for BCa was shown (-15.8 %) despite the increase in female population (+17.8). The correlation of BCa in 2016 was significantly positive for HIV and chlamydia in 2000, whereas IDA seems to have no impact on the cancer. In terms of ecological variables, the % of forest in the country, the forests as Km2/1000 inhabitants, and surprisingly the particular matter (PM2.5 and PM10 in mcg/m3) were found also to have some protective effect.
Conclusion: The ASDR of BCa in 2016 was shown to be directly correlated with ASDRs of HIV and Chlamydia in 2000 but not in the following years indicating a causative role.
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