Association of ABO and Rh blood groups with breast cancer

Sultan Ayoub Meo; Faryal Suraya; Badar Jamil; Fwziah Al Rouq; Anusha Sultan Meo; Kamran Sattar; Mohammad Javed Ansari; Saleh A Alasiri

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2017.01.058

Association of ABO and Rh blood groups with breast cancer

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2017 Nov;24(7):1609-1613. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2017.01.058. Epub 2017 Feb 3.

Authors

Sultan Ayoub Meo¹, Faryal Suraya², Badar Jamil³, Fwziah Al Rouq¹, Anusha Sultan Meo⁴, Kamran Sattar⁵, Mohammad Javed Ansari⁶, Saleh A Alasiri⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Surgery (Plastic Surgery Division), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Internal Medicine (Emergency Medicine), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Army Medical College, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (IVF Division), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the association of "ABO" and "Rhesus" blood groups with incidence of breast cancer.

Methods: In this study, we identified 70 research documents from data based search engines including "PubMed", "ISI-Web of Knowledge", "Embase" and "Google Scholar". The research papers were selected by using the primary key-terms including "ABO blood type", "Rhesus" blood type and "breast cancer". The research documents in which "ABO" and "Rhesus" blood types and breast cancer was debated were included. After screening, we reviewed 32 papers and finally we selected 25 research papers which met the inclusion criteria and remaining documents were excluded.

Results: Blood group "A" has high incidence of breast cancer (45.88%), blood group "O" has (31.69%); "B" (16.16%) and blood group "AB" has (6.27%) incidence of breast cancer. Blood group "A" has highest and blood group "AB" has least association with breast cancer. Furthermore, "Rhesus +ve" blood group has high incidence of breast cancer (88.31%) and "Rhesus -ve" blood group has least association with breast cancer (11.68%).

Conclusion: Blood group "A" and "Rhesus +ve" have high risk of breast cancer, while blood type "AB" and "Rhesus -ve" are at low peril of breast cancer. Physicians should carefully monitor the females with blood group "A" and "Rh +ve" as these females are more prone to develop breast cancer. To reduce breast cancer incidence and its burden, preventive and screening programs for breast cancer especially in young women are highly recommended.

Keywords: ABO blood groups; Blood groups; Breast cancer.