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By Kirsten Houmann, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It's well-known that dense breast tissue leaves a woman at higher risk for breast cancer, but experts still don't completely understand why. Recent research provides clues that may lead to an answer.
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The results of two studies reveal dense breast tissue contains more cells that give rise to breast cancer. One study shows dense tissue contains more epithelium -- tissue that contains milk glands and ductal cells -- and stroma -- tissue that supports the epithelium -- but less fat than non-dense tissue.
"[The study] supports the theory that dense tissue actually does matter as far as our increased risk of having breast cancer," Dalliah Black, M.D., a breast surgeon at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., who is not affiliated with the study, told Ivanhoe. "Before, we could never explain it."
Researchers working on another study found dense tissue contains more of a type of enzyme called aromatase. The enzyme helps create estrogen, a key player in breast cancer development. Dr. Black said this finding is especially pivotal since aromatase-inhibitor drugs are already used on a systemic level to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
The research also shows only 35 percent of dense breast tissue had lobular involution, a characteristic that reduces a women's risk of breast cancer, whereas 85 percent of non-dense tissue had it.
In the first study, researchers took eight biopsies from the breasts of sixty women who had no history of breast cancer. Investigators involved in the second study looked at the biopsy samples more closely to pinpoint cell types that were more prevalent.
The findings of both studies are unique since the research is the first to look at areas of both dense and non-dense tissue taken from the same breast in healthy participants. The research may lead to more personalized breast cancer screenings and treatments.
"Now, we may get to the point where we will actually do a biopsy on a patient with dense breast tissue and learn more about the profile of each woman's individual tissue, and then make a personal plan as to how best to screen that individual," Dr. Black said.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Dalliah Black, M.D.; Presented at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dec. 10-14, 2008
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