Is Volumetric Breast Density Related to Body Mass Index, Body Fat Mass, Waist-Hip Ratio, Age and Ethnicity for Malaysian Women?

Previous studies have shown that breast cancer has been linked to breast density as well as obesity. We aim to investigate the relationships between body mass index (BMI), body fat mass (BFM), waist-hip ratio (WHR), age and ethnicity with volumetric breast density (VBD) among Malaysian women. In this context, VBD is defined as the ratio of fibroglandular tissue volume to total breast volume. We collected anthropomorphic and body composition data for 2457 subjects undergoing mammographic examination at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur. The data included weight, height, BMI and BFM which were measured with a body composition analyzer. We also measured waist and hip circumferences for 500 of these subjects. A VBD assessment system (Volpara) was used to analyze mammograms. Our results showed that VBD is not significantly correlated with BMI (r2 = 0.17), BFM (r2 = 0.19), WHR (r2 = 0.11). We also noted that VBD is highest among Malaysian women below 40 years old. VBD is highest for Chinese (mean = 11.3%), followed by Malay (mean = 10.1%) and Indian (mean = 9.4%). In conclusion, VBD is dependent on age and ethnicity (ANOVA, p<0.05) but not on BMI, BFM and WHR.