By Jimmy Downs

Sunday Oct 21, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Women with high mammographic density are at higher risk for breast cancer, according to a study reported recently in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 

H. Razzaghi H at Gillings Global School of Public Health, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC and colleagues conducted the study and found high mammographic density was associated with increased risk for breast cancer in both black women and white women.

Breast cancer risk has been linked to mammographic density, but it is not clear how mammographic density is associated with the risk in black women.

The current study involved 491 cases of breast cancer and 528 controls from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study (CBCS) whose mammograms were recorded in the Carolina Mammography Registry (CMR).

After adjustment for potential confounders, a 145% increased risk of breast cancer was observed among those with the highest mammographic density, compared to those with the lowest density.   A stronger association was found in white women. 

Density-associated risk was found greatest among those with body mass index of greater than 30 kg/m2 and current hormone therapy users.