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Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention
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Research Articles

Measurements of Breast Density: No Ratio for a Ratio

Gerco Haars, Paulus A.H. van Noord, Carla H. van Gils, Diederick E. Grobbee and Petra H.M. Peeters
Gerco Haars
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Paulus A.H. van Noord
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Carla H. van Gils
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Diederick E. Grobbee
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Petra H.M. Peeters
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DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-05-0824 Published November 2005
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    Figure 1.

    Manually traced contours of total breast size (outer contour) and dense tissue (inner contour) on a digitized xero-film mammogram.

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  • Table 1.

    Distribution of density and/or breast cancer risk factors in study population

    Mean (SD)Range
    Age at examination, y56.4 (4.16)49.2-65.8
    Weight, kg67.7 (9.83)43.5-105.0
    Height, m1.63 (0.06)1.46-1.87
    BMI, kg/m225.6 (3.41)17.8-42.8
    Age at menarche,* y13.5 (1.57)11.0-18.3
    Age at menopause,† y49.6 (3.78)32.0-60.0
    Time since menopause,† y7.5 (5.36)0.1-28.5
    Parity (no. children)2.4 (1.91)0-9
    Age at first childbirth,‡ y27.3 (4.11)18.1-39.9
    n (proportion)
    Parous (yes)332 (79%)
    Current oral contraceptive use (yes)8 (2%)
    Ever used oral contraceptives (yes)43 (10%)
    Used hormone therapy in the last 12 mo (yes)47 (11%)
    Ever smoked (yes)116 (28%)
    Family history of breast cancer (yes)§26 (6%)
    Median (interquartile range)
    Range
    Breast size, cm2123.7 (94.7-162.6)29.1-345.3
    Absolute amount dense tissue, cm226.4 (15.2-46.4)0.3-138.0
    Absolute amount nondense tissue, cm287.855.6-130.6
    Percent dense23.211.6-43.6
    • ↵* Data available for 416 women.

    • ↵† Data available for 361 women.

    • ↵‡ Including only parous women; n = 332.

    • ↵§ Data available for 408 women.

  • Table 2.

    Geometric means of absolute density, absolute nondensity and relative density and trend tests over groups of characteristics

    nAbsolute dense, cm2Absolute nondense, cm2Percent dense, %
    Age at examination, y
        <5413931.372.026.1
        54-5814022.280.118.9
        >5813918.292.314.3
        P for trend418<0.01<0.01<0.01
    Weight, kg
        <6314026.253.029.0
        63-7014322.691.317.6
        >7013521.2114.613.8
        P for trend4180.06<0.01<0.01
    Height, m
        <1.6013321.384.717.5
        1.60-1.6515123.681.019.4
        >1.6513425.280.220.8
        P for trend4180.150.510.18
    BMI, kg/m2
        <201228.321.752.0
        20 to <2518726.662.026.4
        25 to <3017121.6101.115.8
        <304117.3156.18.9
        P for trend4180.07<0.01<0.01
    Age at menarche, y
        <1312221.496.616.1
        13-1417823.472.321.1
        >1411625.582.820.5
        P for trend4160.160.070.08
    Age at menopause, y
        <4910719.583.116.8
        49-5113919.990.915.8
        >5111527.077.722.5
        P for trend3610.010.420.04
    Time since menopause, y
        <412028.374.423.7
        4-912121.181.518.1
        >912017.498.513.5
        P for trend361<0.01<0.01<0.01
    Parous
        Yes33222.287.817.7
        No8628.162.526.3
        P4180.04<0.01<0.01
    Age at first childbirth, y
        <2511020.892.616.2
        25-2811122.681.719.1
        >2811123.189.617.9
        P for trend3320.420.700.50
    Parity (no. children)
        08628.162.526.3
        15326.982.321.3
        29328.577.323.6
        38920.292.415.8
        >39717.298.213.5
        P for trend418<0.01<0.01<0.01
    Current oral contraceptive use
        Yes831.366.228.8
        No41023.282.219.1
        P4180.870.360.29
    Ever used oral contraceptives
        Yes4328.078.323.5
        No37522.882.318.8
        P4180.180.640.19
    Used hormone therapy in the last 12 mo
        Yes4727.875.923.9
        No37122.882.718.7
        P4180.180.410.14
    Ever smoked
        Yes11627.467.525.1
        No30221.988.317.3
        P4180.03<0.01<0.01
    Family history of breast cancer*
        Yes2623.677.420.7
        No38223.282.719.0
        P4080.920.620.71
    • NOTE: Geometric means were calculated in tertiles of continuous variables or binary groups of dichotomous variables. For BMI, standard classes were used and for parity, nominal classes were used, with a truncation at >3. Tests for linear trends were done through ANOVA with an F test on the geometric data.

    • ↵* Defined as one or more affected mother and/or sister.

  • Table 3.

    Multivariate determinants of absolute density, absolute nondensity and relative density

    Absolute dense
    Absolute nondense
    Relative dense
    β* (95% confidence interval), cm2β*− (95% confidence interval), cm2β*− (95% confidence interval), %
    BMI, kg/m210.08 (8.80 to 11.35)−2.12 (−1.55 to −2.59)
    Age at examination, y−1.38 (−0.83 to −1.90)1.74 (0.74 to 2.73)−1.16 (−0.78 to −1.55)
    Age at menarche, y1.55 (0.09 to 3.04)1.00 (−0.19 to 2.22)
    Age at menopause, y0.84 (0.23 to 1.46)0.80 (0.30 to 1.30)
    Parity (no. children)−2.94 (−1.80 to −4.05)3.81 (1.63 to 6.04)−2.49 (−1.55 to −3.32)
    Adjusted R20.130.430.29
    • ↵* Back-transformed β's from analyses based on square root–transformed measurements of density.

  • Table 4.

    Cross-tabulation of quartiles of absolute amount of density by quartiles of relative amount of density

    Absolute amount of density
    Range*Q1Q2Q3Q4Total
    Relative amount of densityQ1 (0-12%)0.3-32.3861910106
    Q2 (12-24%)8.5-65.21563272107
    Q3 (25-42%)8.5-91.5320433197
    Q4 (43-90%)17.9-138063270108
    Total104108103103418
    Range within quartile†, cm20.3-15.215.2-26.526.7-46.446.5-138
    Corresponding range‡, %0-336-6011-9020-88
    • ↵* Range of the absolute amount of dense tissue (in cm2) corresponding to the quartile of relative density.

    • ↵† Range of the absolute amount of density (in cm2) within each quartile.

    • ↵‡ Range of the relative amount of density (in %) corresponding to the quartile of absolute amount of density.

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Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention: 14 (11)
November 2005
Volume 14, Issue 11
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Measurements of Breast Density: No Ratio for a Ratio
Gerco Haars, Paulus A.H. van Noord, Carla H. van Gils, Diederick E. Grobbee and Petra H.M. Peeters
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev November 1 2005 (14) (11) 2634-2640; DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-05-0824

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Measurements of Breast Density: No Ratio for a Ratio
Gerco Haars, Paulus A.H. van Noord, Carla H. van Gils, Diederick E. Grobbee and Petra H.M. Peeters
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev November 1 2005 (14) (11) 2634-2640; DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-05-0824
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