Chapter 6 - Mammographic breast density segmentation

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Approximately 8%–12% of all women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. In 2018, there were around two million new breast cancer cases. Breast density is a consistent and strong risk factor for breast cancer in several populations and across age. Other risk factors of breast cancer include older age, genes like BRCA1, BRCA2, or TP53, dense breast tissue, obesity, radiation exposure, hormone treatments, and alcohol consumption. Breast density segmentation is an important step in estimating breast cancer risk, and in this chapter, we review various methods for breast density segmentation used in mammography. We also examine techniques for estimating mammographic density and breast tissue modeling using BIRADS categories, linear structures, and Tabár scheme. Finally, we discuss the relationship between breast density segmentation and estimating breast cancer risk.