Lead researcher
Prof John Hopper, Dr Jennifer Stone, Dr Carmel Apicella, Dr Enes Makalic, Dr Daniel Schmidt, Dr Rob MacInnis
Institution
Centre for MEGA Epidemiology, The University of Melbourne
Years funded
2012-2014
Mammographic density (MD) is an established risk factor for breast cancer for women aged 40 years and older. Knowing whether or not MD at a young age predicts breast cancer will be important for deciding if, and how, MD measurements might be used to improve the effectiveness of mammographic screening.
Mammographic screening might be better utilised if women at high risk
were screened more frequently, and conversely, if the vast majority at low risk
were screened less frequently. Lowering the overall exposure of the female
population to radiation from mammography, especially if this could be shown to
not reduce or even improve the sensitivity and specificity of screening, could
be advantageous in terms of health and economics. The proposed study will provide
evidence to help towards this ultimate goal of our and other’s research work.
Lay Report - Final
Mammographic density of young
women and their relatives
Funding Body
Cancer Council Research Grant
Funding
$99,997 (2012), $98,120 (2013) and $99,822 (2014)