Ultrasound Study of the Effects of Tamoxifen on Breast Tissue

Overview

Breast Density Research in DCEG

Review DCEG studies examining breast density as it relates to risk for breast cancer

Ultrasound tomography (UST) is a novel radiological method that provides a three-dimensional image of the breast. Collaborators at Karmanos Cancer Institute have developed a UST device that allows the calculation of sound speed, an objective physical measurement that is positively correlated with breast density. Thus, UST offers the possibility of determining breast density serially over time as a volume, without compression of the breast or exposure to potentially harmful ionizing radiation. 

In collaboration with researchers at Karmanos Cancer Institute and the University of Toronto, DCEG investigators used UST to define the time course of volumetric breast density changes among women receiving tamoxifen treatment. Tamoxifen is known to reduce breast density and breast cancer risk.

Investigators enrolled women receiving tamoxifen for atypical lobular or ductal hyperplasia, lobular or ductal carcinoma in situ, or invasive breast cancer at Karmanos Cancer Institute to undergo repeated volumetric breast density assessment with UST. Investigators are assessing whether UST examinations performed as early as 1-3 months following initiation of tamoxifen can identify women whose breast density is demonstrated to have declined at one year using mammography. For comparison, they enrolled age-, race-, and menopausal status-matched women without breast cancer to assess changes in UST density over time without tamoxifen exposure. Risk factor data and blood were collected from participants. The broader study objective is to assess the concept of breast density as a biosensor of tamoxifen response and UST as a useful tool for making this determination.

Study Team

Principal Investigator: Dr. Gretchen Gierach 
Integrative Tumor Epidemiology Branch (ITEB)

Collaborators

Cancer Survivorship Research Unit

Karmanos Cancer Institute
University of Toronto

Select Findings & Publications

They found ultrasound tomography sound speed estimates to be highly reproducible surrogate measures of volumetric breast density. These results will inform the development of methods for serial assessment of density, an important area for future investigation as density changes may translate into changes in breast cancer risk.

Khodr ZG, et al. Determinants of the reliability of ultrasound tomography sound speed estimates as a surrogate for volumetric breast density. Med Phys 2015.