Dataset Information

Environmental Influences on Mammographic Breast Density in California: A Strategy to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk.

ABSTRACT: State legislation in many U.S. states, including California, mandates informing women if they have dense breasts on screening mammography, meaning over half of their breast tissue is comprised of non-adipose tissue. Breast density is important to interpret screening sensitivity and is an established breast cancer risk factor. Environmental chemical exposures may play an important role in this, especially during key windows of susceptibility for breast development: in utero, during puberty, pregnancy, lactation, and the peri-menopause. There is a paucity of research, however, examining whether environmental chemical exposures are associated with mammographic breast density, and even less is known about environmental exposures during windows of susceptibility. Now, with clinical breast density scoring being reported routinely for mammograms, it is possible to find out, especially in California, where there are large study populations that can link environmental exposures during windows of susceptibility to breast density. Density scores are now available throughout the state through electronic medical records. We can link these with environmental chemical exposures via state-wide monitoring. Studying the effects of environmental exposure on breast density may provide valuable monitoring and etiologic data to inform strategies to reduce breast cancer risk.

SUBMITTER: Cohn BA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6926682 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Environmental Influences on Mammographic Breast Density in California: A Strategy to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk.

Cohn Barbara A BA Terry Mary Beth MB

International journal of environmental research and public health 20191127 23

State legislation in many U.S. states, including California, mandates informing women if they have dense breasts on screening mammography, meaning over half of their breast tissue is comprised of non-adipose tissue. Breast density is important to interpret screening sensitivity and is an established breast cancer risk factor. Environmental chemical exposures may play an important role in this, especially during key windows of susceptibility for breast development: in utero, during puberty, pregn ...[more]

PMID: 31783496

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Project description:Breast density and microcalcifications are strongly associated with the risk of breast cancer. However, few studies have evaluated the combined association between these two factors and breast cancer risk. We investigated the association between breast density, microcalcifications, and risk of breast cancer. This cohort study included 3,910,815 women aged 40-74 years who were screened for breast cancer between 2009 and 2010 and followed up until 2020. The National Health Insurance Service database includes national health-screening results from the national breast cancer screening program, which is an organized screening program provided every 2 years for all women aged 40 years or older. Breast density was assessed based on the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) 4th edition, mostly through visual assessment by radiologists. The presence or absence of microcalcifications was obtained from the mammographic results. Cox proportional hazard regression for breast cancer risk was used to estimate hazard ratios (aHRs) adjusted for breast cancer risk factors. A total of 58,315 women developed breast cancer during a median follow-up of 10.8 years. Women with breast cancer had a higher proportion of microcalcifications than women without breast cancer (0.9% vs. 0.3%). After adjusting for breast density, women with microcalcification had a 3.07-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.82-3.35) increased risk of breast cancer compared to women without microcalcification. The combined association between microcalcification and breast density dramatically increased the risk of breast cancer, corresponding to a higher level of breast density. Among postmenopausal women, the highest risk group was women with BI-RADS 4 and microcalcification. These women had more than a sevenfold higher risk than women with BI-RADS 1 and non-microcalcification (aHR, 7.26; 95% CI 5.01-10.53). Microcalcification is an independent risk factor for breast cancer, and its risk is elevated when combined with breast density.

Dataset Information

Environmental Influences on Mammographic Breast Density in California: A Strategy to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk.

Publications

Environmental Influences on Mammographic Breast Density in California: A Strategy to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk.

Similar Datasets

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