A comparison of various methods for measuring breast density and breast tissue composition in adolescent girls and women

Kehm, Rebecca D.; Walter, E. Jane; Pereira, Ana; White, Melissa; Oskar, Sabine; Michels, Karin B.; Shepherd, John; Lilge, Lothar; Terry, Mary Beth

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-17800-0

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Overall, OBS%-water+collagen was correlated with %FGV ( r = 0.48), consistent with recently reported correlations in adolescent girls [ 25 ]. Reported correlations between breast density measures vary significantly by modality (e.g., MRI, DXA, OBS, mammography), method (e.g., area vs. volume, automated vs. radiologist), and metrics (e.g., percent vs. absolute, continuous vs. categorical) [ 18 – 20 , 26 – 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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Alternative methods to measure breast density in younger women

et al. 2023

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Background Breast density is a strong and potentially modifiable breast cancer risk factor. Almost everything we know about breast density has been derived from mammography, and therefore, very little is known about breast density in younger women aged <40. This study examines the acceptability and performance of two alternative breast density measures, Optical Breast Spectroscopy (OBS) and Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA), in women aged 18–40. Methods Breast tissue composition (percent water, collagen, and lipid content) was measured in 539 women aged 18–40 using OBS. For a subset of 169 women, breast density was also measured via DXA (percent fibroglandular dense volume (%FGV), absolute dense volume (FGV), and non-dense volume (NFGV)). Acceptability of the measurement procedures was assessed using an adapted validated questionnaire. Performance was assessed by examining the correlation and agreement between the measures and their associations with known determinants of mammographic breast density. Results Over 93% of participants deemed OBS and DXA to be acceptable. The correlation between OBS-%water + collagen and %FGV was 0.48. Age and BMI were inversely associated with OBS-%water + collagen and %FGV and positively associated with OBS-%lipid and NFGV. Conclusions OBS and DXA provide acceptable and viable alternative methods to measure breast density in younger women aged 18–40 years.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…DXA scans of both breasts were carried out using a clinical GE DXA machine according to the breast density measurement and calibration protocol previously outlined [ 25 ]. Briefly, participants were asked to remove jewellery and clothing from the waist up and change into an open-fronted hospital gown.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative methods to measure breast density in younger women

et al. 2023

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“…Using OBS, we reported percent breast density using light attenuation properties of breast tissue volume components–%water and %collagen–while DXA breast density and mammographic breast density provide volumetric- and area-based measures of fibroglandular tissue, respectively. Although the three modalities use different technology and units of measurement, they have all been reported to be highly correlated with each other [ 17 , 21 , 24 , 41 ]. This study confirms that the distributions of the percentage-based breast density measures from all three modalities were consistently associated with age and BMI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The distribution of breast density in women aged 18 years and older

Perera,

Pirikahu,

Walter

et al. 2024

Breast Cancer Res Treat

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Purpose Age and body mass index (BMI) are critical considerations when assessing individual breast cancer risk, particularly for women with dense breasts. However, age- and BMI-standardized estimates of breast density are not available for screen-aged women, and little is known about the distribution of breast density in women aged < 40. This cross-sectional study uses three different modalities: optical breast spectroscopy (OBS), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and mammography, to describe the distributions of breast density across categories of age and BMI. Methods Breast density measures were estimated for 1,961 Australian women aged 18–97 years using OBS (%water and %water + %collagen). Of these, 935 women had DXA measures (percent and absolute fibroglandular dense volume, %FGV and FGV, respectively) and 354 had conventional mammographic measures (percent and absolute dense area). The distributions for each breast density measure were described across categories of age and BMI. Results The mean age was 38 years (standard deviation = 15). Median breast density measures decreased with age and BMI for all three modalities, except for DXA-FGV, which increased with BMI and decreased after age 30. The variation in breast density measures was largest for younger women and decreased with increasing age and BMI. Conclusion This unique study describes the distribution of breast density measures for women aged 18–97 using alternative and conventional modalities of measurement. While this study is the largest of its kind, larger sample sizes are needed to provide clinically useful age-standardized measures to identify women with high breast density for their age or BMI.

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In vivo optimization of the experimental conditions for the non-invasive optical assessment of breast density

Serra,

Cubeddu,

Maffeis

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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In this study, time domain diffuse optical spectroscopy is performed in the range 600–1100 nm on 11 healthy volunteers with a portable system for the quantitative characterization of breast tissue in terms of optical properties and optically-derived blood parameters, tissue constituent concentrations, and scattering parameters. A measurement protocol involving different geometries (reflectance and transmittance), subject’s positions (sitting and lying down), probing locations (outer, lower, and inner breast quadrants), and source-detector distances (2 and 3 cm) allowed us to investigate the effect of tissue heterogeneity and different measurement configurations on the results with the aim of identifying the best experimental conditions for the estimate of breast density (i.e., amount of fibro-glandular tissue in the breast) as a strong independent risk factor for breast cancer. Transmittance results, that in previous studies correlated strongly with mammographic density, are used as a reference for the initial test of the simpler and more comfortable reflectance measurement configuration. The higher source-detector distance, which probes deeper tissue, retrieves optical outcomes in agreement with higher average density tissue. Similarly, results on the outer quadrants indicate higher density than internal quadrants. These findings are coherent with breast anatomy since the concentration of dense fibro-glandular stroma is higher in deep tissue and towards the external portion of the breast, where the mammary gland is located. The dataset generated with this laboratory campaign is used to device an optimal measurement protocol for a future clinical trial, where optical results will be correlated with conventional mammographic density, allowing us to identify a subset of wavelengths and measurement configurations for an effective estimate of breast density. The final objective is the design of a simplified, compact and cost-effective optical device for a non-invasive, routine assessment of density-associated breast cancer risk.

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A comparison of various methods for measuring breast density and breast tissue composition in adolescent girls and women

Cited by 4 publications

References 35 publications

Alternative methods to measure breast density in younger women

Alternative methods to measure breast density in younger women

The distribution of breast density in women aged 18 years and older

In vivo optimization of the experimental conditions for the non-invasive optical assessment of breast density

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