While breast density is a recognized risk factor for breast cancer, the role of background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) is still controversially discussed. Since BPE reflects hormonally active breast tissue, it may serve as a biomarker for malignancy. Current assessment of BPE, however, is hampered by the subjective nature of its assessment. We therefore tested an automated approach that quantified the percentage of enhancing breast tissue of the entire contralateral breast. This pilot study finds the amount of quantitatively assessed enhanced breast parenchyma as a percentage of the entire breast to inversely correlate with breast cancer risk, while visually estimated BPE did not correlate with breast cancer.
This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.