Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 15 (9), [4061][4062][4063][4064][4065]
IntroductionBreast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world, accounts for 25% of all cancers (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers) in women (GLOBOCAN, 2012). According to recently published data, the overall cancer incidence in Iran has been 110 per 100,000 in men and 98 per 100,000 in women in 2006. Among Iranian women, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality, even though its incidence is among the lowest in the world, i.e., 25 per 100,000 (Mousavi et al., 2008).Breast cancer affects Iranian women at least one decade younger than their counterparts in developed countries (Harirchi et al., 2004). There are many published studies about breast cancer in Iran, but the epidemiological aspects of Iranian breast cancer are uncertain.Well known risk factors of breast cancer are genetic and epigenetic factors including: mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, TP53, sex-steroid hormones and lifestyle factors (Hulka and Moorman, 2008;Derks-Smeets et al., 2014).