Researchers Identify Possible New Risk for Breast Cancer

NYT HEALTH: Researchers Identify Possible New Risk for Breast Cancer
By Roni Caryn Rabin
Section: Health
Source: New York Times
Published Date: April 28, 2023 at 03:00AM

Women’s breasts become less dense with age. Cancer may be more likely in breast tissue that is persistently denser over time, a new study suggests.

Scientists have long known that dense breast tissue is linked to an increased risk of breast cancer in women. A study published on Thursday in JAMA Oncology adds a new twist, finding that while breast density declines with age, a slower rate of decline in one breast often precedes a cancer diagnosis in that breast.

Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis analyzed breast density changes over a 10-year period in 10,000 women who were free of cancer when the study started. Some 289 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in that time; the study compared changes in their breast tissue to those in 658 similar women who did not develop breast cancer.

Breast density was higher from the start in the women who went on to develop breast cancer, and density declined in all women over time. But when each breast’s density was measured separately, scientists found a significantly slower decline in density in breasts that developed cancer, when compared with the other breast in the same patient.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/health/breast-cancer-density.html

Researchers identify key factors that influence the risk of breast cancer recurrence. Dr. Tiffany Chichester, a breast oncologist with HCA Florida Northwest Hospital said a recent study found breast cancer stage and hormone receptor status may help doctors predict if and when the cancer might return after treatment.