Inclusion criteria
for cases included being able to give informed consent and to
complete a questionnaire.
Exclusion criteria included a previous
history of breast cancer or any other type of cancer and the presence
of distant metastasis at diagnosis.
Of the 96 eligible women,
69 (72%) agreed to participate and provided signed consent and a
sample of the first urine. Urine samples were collected before surgery
or chemotherapy.
Control subjects were selected at random
from a healthy population of women including hospital visitors,
hospital staff and blood donors, aged over 18 years.
Inclusion criteria
for controls included being able to give informed consent and to
complete a questionnaire.
Exclusion criteria included the presence
of any hormone-related cancer or disease.
Of the 77 eligible
women, 56 (73%) agreed to participate in the study, of which 15
(20%) did not provide a large enough volume of urine to carry
out the analysis.