Is Breast Density a Risk Factor for All Types of Breast Cancer?

Under the direction of Dr. Vachon, the Mayo Mammography Health Study research team is leading a consortium to investigate whether breast density is a risk factor for all types of breast cancers or only certain types of breast cancers.

Although increased breast density is a risk factor for breast cancer, it's not clear whether breast density is a risk factor for all types of breast cancer.

Because large numbers of women are needed to examine specific and sometimes rare types of breast cancer, the Mayo Clinic team formed a collaboration with researchers at both the University of California San Francisco and Harvard University to address the question about breast density and breast cancer risk.

Through this collaboration, the Mayo Mammography Health Study team is studying breast density and its relationship to in situ cancer, invasive cancer, cancers that differ on the presence or absence of certain receptors (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), and cancers that differ by tumor characteristics, such as grade, nodal involvement and size.