Mammographic density as a predictor of breast cancer outcome.

Evaluation of: Cil T, Fishell E, Hanna W et al.: Mammographic density and the risk of breast cancer recurrence after breast-conserving surgery. Cancer 115, 5780–5787 (2009). This clinical investigation explored mammographic density, a strong etiologic risk factor for breast cancer, as a predictor of local breast cancer recurrence. The authors reported that women with intermediate and high breast density had a significantly elevated risk of developing a local breast cancer recurrence. However, this effect was observed only among patients who had not received radiotherapy. Only two previous reports have shown that mammographic density may be a prognostic factor, but the studies disagree on the role of radiotherapy as an effect modifier. Future studies that incorporate additional risk factors, such as obesity, need to examine the role of mammographic density in larger patient populations before including breast density in treatment decision models.