Young and dense.

There’s chatter out there that increased mammogram density is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. This retrospective look at mammogram surveillance following breast-conserving surgery among over 9K women in Seoul reports that 71.5% have high mammographic density (grade C and D) on first post-op mammogram. Overall, the incidence of in-breast tumor recurrence at 10 years was 2%, and, indeed, this was more likely among those with high-density mammograms (HR 1.44). However, multivariate analysis revealed this was really just a surrogate for younger age that appeared to be the more important predictor of increased risk for recurrence. | Cheun, JAMA Surg 2021