Do Women of Marin County have more Breast Cancer Risk Factors?
We don’t know. It is possible that the composition of Marin County accounts for the high incidence of breast cancer. That is, if a large proportion of women in Marin County have personal risk factors for breast cancer, then we would expect a high incidence of breast cancer in the population. In fact, a recent study conducted by the Northern California Cancer Center found comparable high incidence of breast cancer in other areas of Northern California whose socio-demographic profile was similar to Marin’s population. Further epidemiologic studies of known and possible breast cancer risk factors are needed to better understand the risk profile of women in Marin County. We are currently undertaking a study to describe female breast cancer risk factor distribution in Marin County.
