Rambam Health Care Campus, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Int J Cancer. 2022 Jun 15;150(12):1968-1977. doi: 10.1002/ijc.33957. Epub 2022 Mar 9.
Women with the most extensive breast density, have a 4- to 6-fold higher cancer risk than women with the lowest density. This cross-sectional study evaluated associations of cumulative mammographic density in two distinct ethnic groups with the respective age-specific breast cancer incidences in the population. The study compared four cohorts of 200 women each aged 35 to 49 and 50 to 74, representing Jewish and Arab ethnicity. Breast density measures were calculated from screening mammograms, using a thresholding software (Cumulus). Breast cancer specific incidence values were obtained from the National Cancer Registry. The percent mammographic density was lower for women aged 50 to 74 than 35 to 49 years, both for Jews: 11.7 vs 23.1 and for Arabs: 11.6 vs 18.3. In contrast, the cumulative density increased with age, from 37.30 to 181.24 in Jews, compared to 21.26 to 108.03 in Arabs. Similar trends in breast cancer incidence rates per 100 000 in the Israeli population were apparent, with an increase from 92.95 to 381.91 in Jews, compared to 48.6 to 244.44 in Arabs. Comparing cumulative density of the cohort with respective age-specific breast cancer incidence in the population yielded a highly significant correlation: Jews; r = .97, P < .0001 and Arabs: r = .86, P = .007. A strong association was found between the log of cumulative density and the log of cancer incidence, as well. Our study identified correlations between cumulative mammographic density and breast cancer incidence in two distinct populations. The findings should prompt research to enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of breast cancer, and lead to novel insights into measures of prevention.
乳腺密度最高的女性患癌风险比乳腺密度最低的女性高 4 至 6 倍。本横断面研究评估了两个不同种族群体的累积乳腺密度与人群中特定年龄乳腺癌发病率之间的相关性。该研究比较了四个队列，每个队列由 200 名年龄在 35 至 49 岁和 50 至 74 岁的女性组成，代表犹太人和阿拉伯人。乳腺密度测量值是从筛查乳房 X 光片中使用阈值软件（Cumulus）计算得出的。乳腺癌特定发病率值是从国家癌症登记处获得的。50 至 74 岁的女性乳腺密度比 35 至 49 岁的女性低，犹太人分别为 11.7%和 23.1%，阿拉伯人分别为 11.6%和 18.3%。相比之下，在犹太人中，累积密度随年龄从 37.30 增加到 181.24，而在阿拉伯人则从 21.26 增加到 108.03。以色列人群中乳腺癌发病率每 10 万例的相似趋势明显，犹太人从 92.95 增加到 381.91，而阿拉伯人从 48.6 增加到 244.44。将队列的累积密度与人群中相应年龄的乳腺癌发病率进行比较，得到了高度显著的相关性：犹太人；r=0.97，P<0.0001和阿拉伯人：r=0.86，P=0.007。还发现了累积密度的对数与癌症发病率的对数之间的强相关性。我们的研究在两个不同的人群中确定了累积乳腺密度与乳腺癌发病率之间的相关性。这些发现应该促使研究加强我们对乳腺癌发病机制的理解，并为预防措施提供新的见解。
