Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 1, 2025
Tracking the Mammary Architectural Features and Detecting Breast Cancer with Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: December 15, 2014
Mammographic density and prognosis in primary breast cancer patients
Felix Heindl1, Peter A Fasching1, Alexander Hein1
1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Erlangen University Hospital, Comprehensive Cancer Center, European Metropolitan Area Erlangen-Nuremberg (CCC ER-EMN), Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Purpose:
Mammographic density (MD) is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer (BC). However, the influence of MD on the BC prognosis is unclear. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate whether percentage MD (PMD) is associated with a difference in disease-free or overall survival in primary BC patients.
Methods:
A total of 2525 patients with primary, metastasis-free BC were followed up retrospectively for this analysis. For all patients, PMD was evaluated by two readers using a semi-automated method. The association between PMD and prognosis was evaluated using Cox regression models with disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) as the outcome, and the following adjustments: age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, body mass index, tumor stage, grading, lymph node status, hormone receptor and HER2 status.
Results:
After median observation periods of 9.5 and 10.0 years, no influence of PMD on DFS (p = 0.46, likelihood ratio test (LRT)) or OS (p = 0.22, LRT), respectively, was found. In the initial unadjusted analysis higher PMD was associated with longer DFS and OS. The effect of PMD on DFS and OS disappeared after adjustment for age and was caused by the underlying age effect.
Conclusions:
Although MD is one of the strongest independent risk factors for BC, in our collective PMD is not associated with disease-free and overall survival in patients with BC.
