Introduction: The biological cause of high breast density is not well understood. This paper investigates a possible link between inflammation and breast density and cancer.
Methods: A protein called CCL2 was used to cause inflammation in the mammary gland, and the effect of this on the density of the tissue as well as risk of developing cancer was assessed. The protein CCL2 was also studied in surgical samples of breast tissue to look at whether it was increased in regions of high density in women.
Results: CCL2 caused a low level of inflammation in the mammary glands of mice, which resulted in increased density and increased cancer risk. CCL2 was found to be increased in regions of high dense breast tissue in women compared to regions of low dense tissue.
Conclusion: This study suggests that chronic low level inflammation can drive increased breast density and the associated increased risk of cancer in mice. Further studies are required to establish whether the same is true of increased breast density in women. This study opens the door for possible new opportunities to treat breast density with anti-inflammatory drugs.
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