Zeina G Khodr, Mark E Sherman, Ruth M Pfeiffer, Gretchen L Gierach, Louise A Brinton, Roni T Falk, Deesha A Patel, Laura M Linville, Daphne Papathomas, Susan E Clare, Daniel W Visscher, Carolyn Mies, Stephen M Hewitt, Anna Maria V Storniolo, Adrian Rosebrock, Jesus J Caban, Jonine D Figueroa
BACKGROUND: Terminal duct lobular units (TDLU) are the predominant source of breast cancers. Lesser degrees of age-related TDLU involution have been associated with increased breast cancer risk, but factors that influence involution are largely unknown. We assessed whether circulating hormones, implicated in breast cancer risk, are associated with levels of TDLU involution using data from the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank (KTB) at the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center (2009-2011). METHODS: We evaluated three highly reproducible measures of TDLU involution, using normal breast tissue samples from the KTB (n = 390): TDLU counts, median TDLU span, and median acini counts per TDLU...
December 2014: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention