The clinical association between breast cancer molecular subtype and clinical stage with breast density

Abstract

Aim: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, and dense breast tissue is a risk factor for breast cancer. However, it remains unclear whether there is an association between the breast density and molecular subtypes and clinical stage of breast cancer patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. We performed a retrospective cohort study to determine the association between molecular subtype and TNM clinical stage with breast density Materials and Methods: The data of female breast cancer patients who underwent treatment in our general surgery clinic between January 2019–April 2021 participated in the study. Patients’ gender, mammographic density, mammographic BI-RADS category, tumor location, TNM clinical stage, and breast cancer molecular subtypes were noted. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics as cross-tabulations and chi-square tests were used, where applicable. Results: 230 female patients participated in the study. The mean age of the patients was 56.8 (29–88) years old. The most frequent mammographic breast density was category C (39.4%), followed by category B (33.3%). Furthermore, the most frequent mammographic BI-RADS category was category 4 (38.1%), followed by category 5 (37.2%). There was no statistically significant relationship between mammographic density and the TNM clinical stage of the patients (p=0.247). There was no statistically significant relationship between the mammographic density and molecular subtype (p=0.397). Conclusion: Mammographic breast density was not linked with the subtype or clinical stage of breast cancer. The focus of breast cancer clinical trials should be early detection, particularly in cases with dense breast tissue, regardless of molecular subtype.