Arshiya Ahsan - Department of Radiology
Mammograms characterize typical breast densities in four different categories. “Fatty” classifies a breast almost completely composed of fatty breast tissue. “Scattered” is mainly made of fatty breast tissues, with dense glandular and fibrous connective tissue occupying some spaces. “Heterogeneously Dense” breast tissue is described as some fatty tissue and multiple spots of dense glandular and fibrous connective tissue. Finally, “Extremely Dense” breast tissue is identified as almost entirely dense glandular and fibrous connective tissue. Mammographically dense breasts are correlated with the use of hormone therapy for menopause and a lower BMI. Moreover, breast density is known to lessen with age and childbirth.
This study analyzes the numerical features of functional, permanent tissue (i.e. parenchyma) obtained from standard MRI scans. Of 4,553 women with very dense breasts, 122 were confirmed with breast cancer (about 3%). The results conclude that “in women with extremely dense breasts, a high volume of enhancing parenchyma on baseline DCE (i.e. dynamic contrast-enhanced) MRI scans was associated with increased occurrence of breast cancer” (Wang et al. 2023). Thus, while dense breasts are not regarded as atypical, they threaten to contribute to the possibility of developing breast cancer. Cancer.gov recommends that after receiving a mammogram report, women speak with their provider about any dense breast-related conclusions, if additional screening or diagnostic tests are recommended, and determine their risk for developing breast cancer when considering their overall health.
Reference:
Wang, H., van der Velden, B. H., Verburg, E., Bakker, M. F., Pijnappel, R. M., Veldhuis, W. B., van Gils, C. H., & Gilhuijs, K. G. (2023). Assessing quantitative parenchymal features at baseline dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and cancer occurrence in women with extremely dense breasts. Radiology, 308(2). https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.222841
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