Variations in percent mammographic density (PMD) reflect variations in the amounts of collagen and number of epithelial and non-epithelial cells in the breast. Extensive PMD is associated with a markedly increased risk of invasive breast cancer. The PMD phenotype is important in the context of breast cancer prevention because extensive PMD is common in the population, is strongly associated with risk of the disease, and, unlike most breast cancer risk factors, can be changed. Work now in progress makes it likely that measurement of PMD will be improved in the near future and that understanding of the genetics and biological basis of the association of PMD with breast cancer risk will also improve. Future prospects for the application of PMD include mammographic screening, risk prediction in individuals, breast cancer prevention research, and clinical decision making.

/pdf/mammographic-density-and-breast-cancer-risk-current-1g5s2ss0y3.pdf

Mammographic density and breast cancer risk: current understanding and future prospects

Breast density, as assessed by mammography, reflects breast tissue composition. Breast epithelium and stroma attenuate x-rays more than fat and thus appear light on mammograms while fat appears dark. In this review, we provide an overview of selected areas of current knowledge about the relationship between breast density and susceptibility to breast cancer. We review the evidence that breast density is a risk factor for breast cancer, the histological and other risk factors that are associated with variations in breast density, and the biological plausibility of the associations with risk of breast cancer. We also discuss the potential for improved risk prediction that might be achieved by using alternative breast imaging methods, such as magnetic resonance or ultrasound. After adjustment for other risk factors, breast density is consistently associated with breast cancer risk, more strongly than most other risk factors for this disease, and extensive breast density may account for a substantial fraction of breast cancer. Breast density is associated with risk of all of the proliferative lesions that are thought to be precursors of breast cancer. Studies of twins have shown that breast density is a highly heritable quantitative trait. Associations between breast density and variations in breast histology, risk of proliferative breast lesions, and risk of breast cancer may be the result of exposures of breast tissue to both mitogens and mutagens. Characterization of breast density by mammography has several limitations, and the uses of breast density in risk prediction and breast cancer prevention may be improved by other methods of imaging, such as magnetic resonance or ultrasound tomography.

Breast Tissue Composition and Susceptibility to Breast Cancer

The extracellular matrix molecule tenascin-C is highly expressed during embryonic development, tissue repair and in pathological situations such as chronic inflammation and cancer. Tenascin-C interacts with several other extracellular matrix molecules and cell-surface receptors, thus affecting tissue architecture, tissue resilience and cell responses. Tenascin-C modulates cell migration, proliferation and cellular signaling through induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and oncogenic signaling molecules amongst other mechanisms. Given the causal role of inflammation in cancer progression, common mechanisms might be controlled by tenascin-C during both events. Drugs targeting the expression or function of tenascin-C or the tenascin-C protein itself are currently being developed and some drugs have already reached advanced clinical trials. This generates hope that increased knowledge about tenascin-C will further improve management of diseases with high tenascin-C expression such as chronic inflammation, heart failure, artheriosclerosis and cancer.

/pdf/the-role-of-tenascin-c-in-tissue-injury-and-tumorigenesis-109s5qgwlz.pdf

The role of tenascin-C in tissue injury and tumorigenesis.

Our study results show that increased background parenchymal enhancement on breast MR images is more substantially associated with greatly increased odds of breast cancer than is MR imaging–depicted fibroglandular tissue.

/pdf/background-parenchymal-enhancement-at-breast-mr-imaging-and-8jgirfpfqw.pdf

Background parenchymal enhancement at breast MR imaging and breast cancer risk.

This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 19, No. 4. See the HTA programme website for further project information.

/pdf/the-tommy-trial-a-comparison-of-tomosynthesis-with-digital-2q537lwj4u.pdf

The TOMMY trial: a comparison of TOMosynthesis with digital MammographY in the UK NHS Breast Screening Programme - a multicentre retrospective reading study comparing the diagnostic performance of digital breast tomosynthesis and digital mammography with digital mammography alone.

Summary Background Mammographic density is a heritable quantitative trait and is a strong risk factor for breast cancer in middle-aged and older women. However, little is known about the development of mammographic density in early life. We used MRI to measure the water content of the breast, which provides a measurement of the fibro-glandular content of breast tissue with similar accuracy to mammography, but without the attendant exposure to radiation. Methods Between December, 2003, and December, 2007, we recruited 400 young women, aged 15–30 years, and their mothers. We used MRI scans to measure daughters' breast water and fat, and on the same day obtained blood for hormone assays in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle for each young woman. Mothers underwent mammography (n=356), and a random sample (n=100) also consented to have a breast MRI scan. Findings In mothers, per cent water—as measured by MRI—was strongly correlated with per cent mammographic density ( r =0·85). Per cent water in daughters (median 44·8%) was significantly higher than in mothers (median 27·8%; p Interpretation Per cent breast water was greatest during the ages when women are most susceptible to breast carcinogens, and was associated with weight, height, and mother's breast-tissue characteristics, and with serum concentrations of growth hormone: a breast mitogen that also mediates postnatal somatic growth. Mammographic density in middle age might partly be the result of genetic factors that affect growth and development in early life. Funding Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance.

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanonc/PIIS1470-2045(09)70078-6.pdf

Breast-tissue composition and other risk factors for breast cancer in young women: a cross-sectional study.

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Sofia Chavez

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Breast-tissue composition and other risk factors for breast cancer in young women: a cross-sectional study.