High-risk mammographic parenchymal patterns and anthropometric measures: a case-control study

Area of Science:

• Radiology and Imaging
• Oncology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Mammographic parenchymal patterns are established indicators of breast cancer risk.
• Anthropometric measures, including body size and shape, influence mammographic patterns.
• Understanding these relationships is crucial for accurate risk stratification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between body size, shape, and breast size with mammographic parenchymal patterns.
• To determine the effect of body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) on high-risk mammographic patterns.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 200 women with high-risk (P2, DY) and 200 women with low-risk (N1, P1) mammographic patterns.
• Analysis of anthropometric measures including BMI, WHR, and breast cup size.
• Statistical evaluation using odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) to assess associations.

Main Results:

• Women in the highest BMI quartile had significantly lower odds of high-risk patterns (OR=0.21, 95% CI 0.08-0.52).
• Higher WHR (≥0.80) was associated with reduced odds of high-risk patterns compared to WHR <0.75 (OR=0.30, 95% CI 0.14-0.63).
• Larger breast cup size showed a significant negative relationship with high-risk mammographic patterns.

Conclusions:

• BMI and WHR are negatively associated with high-risk mammographic patterns, despite being positive risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer.
• This inverse confounding may lead to underestimation of the true importance of BMI and parenchymal patterns in breast cancer risk assessment.
• Further research is needed to identify anthropometric-independent measures of mammographic density.