Association of bone mineral density and mammographic breast density in premenopausal and postmenopausal Malaysian women: study on women with and without breast cancer

High mammographic breast density is an established risk factor for breast cancer whilst bone mineral density is a marker of estrogen cumulative exposure. This study was conducted to compare bone mineral density in Malaysian premenopausal and postmenopausal women; with and without breast cancer. Besides, it was to determine the relationship between bone mineral density and mammographic breast density in these groups. A cross-sectional study on 50 women above 40 years old who underwent mammogram and Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry was conducted at the General Hospital Kuala Lumpur for a year. Respondents were chosen using purposive sampling and women who had commenced cancer treatment were excluded from the study. The mean of selected characteristics were compared between groups using independent-t and Mann-Whitney U for continuous and categorical data respectively whilst Chi-square analysis was used to determine the association of bone mineral density and mammographic breast density. A total of 31 and 19 pre- and postmenopausal women respectively. Women with scattered fibroglandular breasts were the most affected by cancer, although, there was no statistical difference (p=0.298). There was no significant difference in women with contraceptive and/or hormone replacement therapy usage with breast density based on the classification of bone mineral density (p=0.214), cancer (p=0.344) and menstrual status (p=0.298). In conclusion, there was an adverse association between bone mineral density and mammographic breast density in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women; with and without breast cancer.