We investigated whether the MDR1 C3435T polymorphism is associated with fibrocystic changes (FCC), infiltrating ductal breast cancer (IDBC), and/or clinical-pathological features of IDBC in Mexican patients. Samples from women who received surgical treatment in 2007 at the Centro Médico de Occidente (México) were included in the analysis. Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphisms in 64 paraffin-embedded breast samples with IDBC, 64 samples with FCC, and 183 peripheral blood samples of healthy females designated as the healthy group (HG). The frequency of the T allele was 41, 45, and 52% for the FCC, IDBC, and HG samples, respectively. Significant differences were only found between the FCC and HG samples [odds ratio (OR) = 0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.43-0.96; P = 0.032]. The prevalence of the T/T genotype was 8, 13, and 24% for FCC, IDBC, and HG samples, respectively. Again, statistical differences were only found between FCC and HG samples for the T/T genotype (OR = 0.28, 95%CI = 0.106-0.77; P = 0.009). Although the T allele and the T/T genotype were less frequent in the IDBC group than in the HG, the differences were not significant. Furthermore, no associations were found between the C3435T polymorphism and clinical-pathological features of the IDBC group. Both the FCC and IDBC groups had a high frequency of the C allele relative to the HG in this sample of women from Western Mexico.