The relationship of obesity, mammographic breast density, and magnetic resonance imaging in patients with breast cancer

PurposeThe purpose was to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), mammographic breast density, magnetic resonance (MR) background parenchymal enhancement (BPE), and MR fibroglandular tissue (FGT) in women with breast cancer.MethodsOur institutional database was queried for patients with preoperative mammography and breast MR imaging.ResultsThere were 573 women eligible for analysis. Elevated BMI was associated with advanced stage of disease (P=.01), lower mammographic density (P<.0001), lower FGT (P<.0001), higher BPE (P=.005), and nonpalpable lesions (P=.04).ConclusionsHigher BMI was associated with decreased breast density and FGT. Higher BMI was also associated with advanced stage disease and nonpalpable tumors on clinical exam.