Is There an Association Between Bone Mineral Density and Mammographic Density? A Systematic Review

Both bone mineral density (BMD) and breast density are related to reproductive hormone levels. This suggests that BMD and breast density could be meaningfully associated, and serve as surrogate markers for breast cancer risk. However, few studies have investigated the association of BMD with percent mammographic density, making it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions.

We conducted a systematic review of studies published in electronic databases till April 2016 using the following search terms: "bone density," "bone mineral density," "mammographic breast density," "breast density," and "mammographic density." We identified 203 articles, of which 8 met the inclusion criteria for this review.

BMD does not appear to be associated with percent mammographic density. BMD at the spine was weakly positively associated with percent mammographic density among postmenopausal women who were not hormone users, while BMD at the hip and legs was positively associated with percent mammographic density among premenopausal women. On the other hand, one study reported an inverse association of BMD at the spine and hip with percent mammographic density among perimenopausal women.

In this review, we found no evidence of an association between BMD and percent mammographic density.