Abstract

Mammographic density reveals information about the hormonal environment along with the heritability in which breast cancer develops. This is made possible by the widespread use of population screening by mammography. Increasingly this is an important observation not just for population studies, which reveal disease determinants, but also for the individual. Density reveals the effect of the intrinsic hormonal environment and its background genetics, and also the effect of pharmaceuticals--agents used for disease control and prevention and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) used for well-being around the menopause. Increasingly this focus on the individual will need methods of measurement of density that can be monitored with greater accuracy than the widely used BI-RADS 4 categories. For this purpose studies are under way to measure volume of dense tissue as a continuous variable. In due course, measurement of density will be used as a biomarker of risk, employed in risk models and to monitor interventions. Before this can happen more knowledge will be needed of the change occurring naturally through the menopause and the differences between individuals. This will need specific study backed up with detailed information about the patient on large numbers of women and their mammograms. Currently the widespread use of HRT has increased the prevalence of the dense patterns and potentially may adversely affect the effectiveness of mammographic screening programmes. There is a large literature recording this from which we see that combined continuous preparations of oestrogen progestin are more likely to cause increased density than oestrogen alone or tibolone. Breast density, measured more accurately, has the potential to be an important adjunct to risk estimation and to monitor interventions for breast cancer prevention with pharmaceuticals (such as SERMS) and by change in lifestyle behaviours.