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Division of Epidemiology and Statistics, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1K9 Canada [J. S., A. G., L. J. M., S. M., N. F. B.] and Imaging Research, Sunnybrook and Womens College Hospital Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5 Canada [A. G., M. Y.]
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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Mammographic density differs from other risk factors for breast cancer in a number of respects. The relative and attributable risk of breast cancer is stronger than almost all other risk factors, density reflects events in the organ at risk itself, and mammographic density can be changed. Mammographic density is reduced by increasing age, parity, menopause, by greater body weight (see Refs. 22 , 23 for reviews), by Tamoxifen (24 , 25) , a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (26) , and is increased by hormone replacement therapy (27) .
The detection of change in mammographic density is the subject of several research projects now in progress. There has, however, been little systematic examination of how change in serial mammograms is best detected. The purpose of the work described here was to examine the effects of different reading conditions on the detection of change in mammographic features, using a computer-assisted method of measurement, in serial mammograms that have been the subject of a previously published study and in which change has been described previously (28) .
| Materials and Methods |
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General Method
The general method used was to identify women within the Canadian NBSS, a multicenter-randomized controlled trial of screening for breast cancer, and who had been allocated to the mammography arm of the study in which they received annual mammography for 5 years. We selected subjects who were premenopausal at entry and had undergone menopause after entry. We compared the mammogram obtained at entry with the mammogram that most closely followed menopause, using a computer-assisted method of measurement. The changes seen in the mammograms of these subjects were compared with those in an individually age-matched group of women who were also premenopausal at entry, had been followed for the same length of time, and had not experienced menopause. The first group we refer to as the prepostmenopausal group and the second the premenopausal group.
Reading Methods
All measurements were made on one cranio-caudal view for each subject. The same side (left or right) was used for both images that were compared within each subject and for both members of the matched pairs of subjects. Mammograms were measured using the computer-assisted method shown in Fig. 1
. An operator placed a threshold on the edge of the breast (white line in Fig. 1
) and on the edge of dense breast tissue (black line in Fig. 1
). The computer then calculated the areas defined by these thresholds. The mammograms were repeatedly measured by the same reader (N. F. B.) using the same computer-assisted method, however, using four different methods to randomize and present the images to the reader. The methods used were used in the same order as they are described below, and their order was not determined randomly. Each randomization method involved six sets of films each containing two mammograms for each of the 404 subjects (202 pairs) read over the course of
1 week, each set in
1 h. Average reliability for measuring percent density was assessed by rereading a 10% random sample of images, within and between each session. The four reading methods of randomization and viewing were spread out over the course of 1 year.
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Randomization of Subjects, Films within Subject Viewed One after the Other, Order Unknown.
The second method involved reading the films of each subject in pairs, one after the other, but in random order and unknown to the reader, i.e., the unit of randomization was the subject.
Randomization of Subjects, Films within Subject Viewed One after the Other, Order Known.
The third method was the same as the second, except the order of the films within a subject was sequential (not random) and known to the reader, i.e., the films were read in succession, in the order in which they had been taken.
Randomization of Subjects, Films within Subject Viewed Simultaneously, Order Unknown.
The fourth and final method involved simultaneous viewing of both films for each subject on two separate computer monitors in random and unknown order.
Examples of each of the methods of randomization and viewing are given in Fig. 2
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A series of paired t tests was used to compare the differences in the means of the four mammographic measures. The first set of paired t tests compared the change over time (before and after menopause or equivalent) within a subject for each of the prepostmenopausal and premenopausal groups. The second set of paired t tests compared the differences of this change between groups. A RCBD was used to test the hypothesis that there was no difference between these differences across the methods of randomization and viewing.
Jackknifing was used to compare the variation in reading methods rather than the differences in the means. Jackknifing repeatedly calculated the log variance while deleting one observation at a time from the observed data. The log of the sample variance of the between-group differences (pre versus prepostmenopausal) in the within-subject change (before versus after) of each mammographic measure is jackknifed for each method of randomization and viewing. A RCBD was applied to the new jackknifed estimates to test the hypothesis that there was no difference between the methods (29) .
| Results |
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Table 2
shows the mean change in each of the four mammographic measures over time, for each group, and for each randomization and viewing method, with their applicable SDs. It also shows the paired between-group difference of the within-subject change and its corresponding P.
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Method 2 gave mean paired differences for each of the mammographic measures (4.01, 4.58, -5.67, and -1.09 for percent density, dense area, nondense area, and total breast area, respectively) that were similar to those of method 1, however, arranging a subjects mammograms so that they were read one after the other (but in random and unknown order), affected the SDs. They were considerably smaller than with method 1, which is reflected in the smaller Ps for the paired differences.
With the exception of total breast area, method 3 gave the smallest mean paired differences for each of the mammographic measures (2.26, 1.75, -2.85, and -1.10 for percent density, dense area, nondense area, and total breast area, respectively), and its SDs were larger than both methods 2 and 4. The mean changes in the premenopausal group in method 3 were larger for each of the mammographic measures relative to the other randomization and viewing methods and so were the SDs. This reduced the mean paired differences and increased the between group variation, and as a result, method 3 yielded the highest Ps for the paired differences of the four methods of randomization and viewing.
As with method 3, method 4 also gave relatively small mean paired differences for all of the mammographic measures, except total breast area (2.68, 2.98, -4.26, and -1.28 for percent density, dense area, nondense area, and total breast area, respectively). However, it was the least variable method. The introduction of two screens and simultaneous viewing of both images in each pair altered the mean change of percent density within a group closer to zero (-0.65 for the pregroup and -3.32 for the prepost group) while reducing the variability. This was also true for all of the other mammographic measures for the prepost group.
The last column of Table 2
gives the Ps from the RCBD, which tested the null hypothesis that the mean paired differences for each of the methods of randomization and viewing were equal. The null hypothesis could not be rejected for any of the mammographic measures (P = 0.2194, 0.3146, 0.1408, and 0.5102 for percent density, dense area, nondense area, and total breast area, respectively). Thus, the mean paired differences were not significantly different across the four methods of randomization and viewing.
Table 3
shows the mean of the jackknifed log variance of the four mammographic measures for each randomization and viewing method. For all measures except total breast area, method 1 yielded the largest mean log variances (6.17, 6.94, 7.09, and 6.55 for percent density, dense area, nondense area, and total breast area, respectively), whereas method 4 yielded the smallest (5.12, 5.76, 6.21, and 6.02 for percent density, dense area, nondense area, and total breast area, respectively). The corresponding Ps from the RCBD were all <0.001, which was evidence to reject the null hypothesis that the mean log variances for each of the methods of randomization and viewing were equal. Within a mammographic measure, all multiple comparisons were statistically significant, with the (borderline) exception of total breast area. The mean log variance for total breast area in method 3 (6.01) was not significantly different from method 4 (6.02; P = 0.06).
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| Discussion |
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Despite the various levels of bias in each of the randomization and viewing methods, the mean paired differences were not significantly different for any of the four mammographic measures. A probable explanation is that the introduction of bias only effects the measurement within subjects, not between subjects. The same amount of bias was introduced to both groups (with the exception of method 3 for reasons described above) and was eliminated after taking the difference between groups.
Although the mean paired differences were not different across the methods of randomization and viewing, the variability between the methods was significantly different for all four mammographic measures. Method 4 produced the lowest mean log variance for all measures, except total breast area; however, this method raises certain practical issues that are less than ideal. The first, of course, was the tradeoff between the reduction of variability and the bias of the mean change toward zero. Simultaneous reading without knowledge of sequence (method 4) allowed the reader to adjust the films so that their appearance on the screen was similar in terms of brightness and contrast. The images appeared more alike, which reduced the within-subject variability but also reduced the mean change within subjects. Films belonging to the same women may have been taken on different machines with positioning, compression, and film processing. Adjusting brightness and contrast of the images so that they appear as alike as possible on the viewing screen may not adequately control these sources of variability. The second is the inconvenience of requiring two computers. Both monitors must be of the same make with identical settings and the time required to prepare a set of films for reading is about doubled.
Overall, method 2 appears to be the best method of randomization and viewing. It introduces a small amount of bias, relative to method 1, toward zero in the mean change. Estimates of mean change were slightly smaller than those of method 1 in which no information is provided to the reader, whereas in method 2, pairing of mammograms is known, but the order in which they were taken is not known. The effect of method 2 on mean change, relative to method 1, is additionally reduced after taking the differences between groups. The slight reduction in effect size with method 2 is amply compensated by a substantial reduction in variability, making method 2 the most sensitive method with the lowest Ps in Table 2
for all mammographic measures except total breast area.
| Footnotes |
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1 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Division of Epidemiology and Statistics, Ontario Cancer Institute, 610 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1K9 Canada. ![]()
2 The abbreviations used are: NBSS, National Breast Screening Study; RCBD, randomized complete block design. ![]()
Received 12/12/02; revised 4/ 4/03; accepted 4/16/03.
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