title: Breast density measurements using ultrasound tomography for patients undergoing tamoxifen treatment.
abstract: Women with high breast density have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Women treated with the selective estrogen receptor modulator tamoxifen for estrogen receptor positive breast cancer experience a 50% reduction in risk of contralateral breast cancer and overall reduction of similar magnitude has been identified among high-risk women receiving the drug for prevention. Tamoxifen has been shown to reduce mammographic density, and in the IBIS-1 chemoprevention trial, risk reduction and decline in density were significantly associated. Ultrasound tomography (UST) is an imaging modality that can create tomographic sound speed images of the breast. These sound speed images are useful because breast density is proportional to sound speed. The aim of this work is to examine the relationship between UST-measured breast density and the use of tamoxifen. So far, preliminary results for a small number of patients have been observed and are promising. Correlations between the UST-measured density and mammographic density are strong and positive, while relationships between UST density with some patient specific risk factors behave as expected. Initial results of UST examinations of tamoxifen treated patients show that approximately 45% of the patients have a decrease in density in the contralateral breast after only several months of treatment. The true effect of tamoxifen on UST-measured density cannot yet be fully determined until more data are collected. However, these promising results suggest that UST can be used to reliably assess quantitative changes in breast density over short intervals and therefore suggest that UST may enable rapid assessment of density changes associated with therapeutic and preventative interventions.
authors.affiliation: Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, 4100 John R Street, Detroit MI 48201.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sak
authors.affiliation: Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, 4100 John R Street, Detroit MI 48201 ; Delphinus Medical Technologies, 46701 Commerce Center Dr, Plymouth, MI, 48170.
authors.forename: Neb
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Duric
authors.affiliation: Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, 4100 John R Street, Detroit MI 48201 ; Delphinus Medical Technologies, 46701 Commerce Center Dr, Plymouth, MI, 48170.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Littrup
authors.affiliation: Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, 4100 John R Street, Detroit MI 48201 ; Delphinus Medical Technologies, 46701 Commerce Center Dr, Plymouth, MI, 48170.
authors.forename: Cuiping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, 4100 John R Street, Detroit MI 48201.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bey-Knight
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch, 6120 Executive Blvd, Suite 550, Rockville, MD 20892.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.affiliation: Princess Margaret Hospital, 610 University Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 2M9.
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch, 6120 Executive Blvd, Suite 550, Rockville, MD 20892.
authors.forename: Gretchen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gierach
keywords: Breast density; Tamoxifen; Ultrasound tomography