Why It Issues: A Potential Warning Signal
Shu Jiang, the examine’s lead writer and an affiliate professor of public well being sciences at Washington College, mentioned the findings would possibly present an individualized and dynamic software for assessing a girl’s breast most cancers danger. “I hope they will get this into medical use as quickly as doable — it’s going to make an enormous distinction,” she mentioned.
“Proper now, all people solely appears at density at one cut-off date,” Dr. Jiang added. However girls have mammograms at common intervals all through their lives, and the density of every breast is measured every time.
“So this data is definitely already out there, but it surely’s not being utilized,” she mentioned. Now, a girl’s danger of creating breast most cancers might “be up to date each time she will get a brand new mammogram.”
Background: Breast Density Issues
Breast density is now an acknowledged danger issue for breast most cancers, albeit one among many. Dense tissue additionally makes tumors more durable to detect in imaging scans.
Dozens of states have began requiring mammography facilities to inform girls if they’ve dense breast tissue. In March, the Meals and Drug Administration advisable that suppliers inform girls about their breast density.
However that is the primary examine to measure modifications in density over time and to report a hyperlink to breast most cancers.
What’s Subsequent: Discovering Girls at Threat
Although bigger research will have to be finished to verify the findings, Karen Knudsen, chief government of the American Most cancers Society, referred to as the information “thrilling.”
“That is the primary examine I’ve seen that appears particularly throughout time at modifications from breast to breast, as a substitute of averaging the 2 breasts, the place you would possibly miss these modifications,” Dr. Knudsen mentioned.
Though girls are offered the details about breast density and the dangers related to it, the examine means that data could possibly be higher used. “We have to know tips on how to observe girls with dense breasts, as a substitute of simply alerting them,” Dr. Knudsen mentioned.
One subsequent step might to be look at breast density over time in girls taking medicine to forestall breast most cancers to see if the density decreases, Dr. Knudsen recommended.
“There could possibly be completely different danger stratification tips set as much as monitor those that are having a lot slower decline in tissue density, versus those that will not be,” Dr. Jiang mentioned.
