Breast Mammographic Pattern: A Concatenation of Confounding and Breast Cancer Risk Factors

A mammographic pattern of >25% radiodensity is associated with increased risk for breast cancer. Mammographic pattern is influenced by age, body weight, reproductive factors, and race/ethnicity. The interaction among these factors in predicting breast radiographic pattern, and their association w...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of epidemiology 1995-10, Vol.142 (8), p.813-819
Main Authors: Bartow, Sue A., Pathak, Dorothy R., Mettler, Fred A., Key, Charles R., Pike, Malcolm C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
body constitution
Body Mass Index
Breast - pathology
breast neoplasms
Breast Neoplasms - ethnology
Breast Neoplasms - etiology
Confounding Factors (Epidemiology)
Female
Fibrocystic Breast Disease - complications
Fibrocystic Breast Disease - diagnostic imaging
Fibrocystic Breast Disease - ethnology
Fibrocystic Breast Disease - pathology
fibrocystic disease of breast
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Mammary gland diseases
Mammography
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
obesity
Odds Ratio
Postmenopause
Predictive Value of Tests
radiography
Risk Factors
Tumors
women
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A mammographic pattern of >25% radiodensity is associated with increased risk for breast cancer. Mammographic pattern is influenced by age, body weight, reproductive factors, and race/ethnicity. The interaction among these factors in predicting breast radiographic pattern, and their association with the presence of histologic markers of increased risk of breast cancer, is poorly defined. To elucidate the relations among epidemiologic, radiographic, and histologic markers of breast cancer risk, the authors studied these factors in an unselected forensic autopsy series, accumulated between 1978 and 1983, of 486 women aged 15–98 years at death. Older age and/or postmenopausal status was the strongest predictor of radiolucent breast pattern. Obesity, defined as a Quetelet index (weight (kg)/height (m)2) of >25, and large breast size were also highly significant predictors of breast radiolucency. Factors related to parity were not significant predictors of breast parenchymal pattern. Native American race was an independent predictor of breast radiolucency in this population. A dense parenchymal pattern was associated with increased prevalence of marked cystic change and the presence of duct epithelial hyperplasia in women under age 35. The results support the association of breast radiodensity with ethnic/racial, reproductive, and histologic factors predictive of cancer risk. However, this association is overshadowed by the effects of obesity and aging or menopause.
ISSN:0002-9262
1476-6256
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117720