Breast density, benign breast disease, and risk of breast cancer over time

Objectives Assessing the combined effect of mammographic density and benign breast disease is of utmost importance to design personalized screening strategies. Methods We analyzed individual-level data from 294,943 women aged 50-69 years with at least one mammographic screening participation in any of four areas of the Spanish Breast Cancer Screening Program from 1995 to 2015, and followed up until 2017. We used partly conditional Cox models to assess the association between benign breast disease, breast density, and the risk of breast cancer. Results During a median follow-up of 8.0 years, 3697 (1.25%) women had a breast cancer diagnosis and 5941 (2.01%) had a benign breast disease. More than half of screened women had scattered fibroglandular density (55.0%). The risk of breast cancer independently increased with the presence of benign breast disease and with the increase in breast density (p for interaction = 0.84). Women with benign breast disease and extremely dense breasts had a threefold elevated risk of breast cancer compared with those with scattered fibroglandular density and without benign breast disease (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.07; 95%CI = 2.01-4.68). Heterogeneous density and benign breast disease was associated with nearly a 2.5 elevated risk (HR = 2.48; 95%CI = 1.66-3.70). Those with extremely dense breast without a benign breast disease had a 2.27 increased risk (95%CI = 2.07-2.49). Conclusions Women with benign breast disease had an elevated risk for over 15 years independently of their breast density category. Women with benign breast disease and dense breasts are at high risk for future breast cancer.

Automated summary

The study shows that breast density and benign breast disease have independent effects on the risk of breast cancer, with women with benign breast disease and extremely dense breasts having a significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer.