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UCSD Researchers Study The Connection Between 
Bone Density And Breast Cancer

Research Subjects Needed

UCSD School of Medicine researchers are studying the occurrence of low bone density in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in order to show the importance of regular mammograms, regardless of a woman’s bone density.

The risk of breast cancer increases with age and between the ages of 70 and 79, breast cancer occurs in one in 14 women.  However, a recent research study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that screening mammography is minimally beneficial for women over 69 years old who have low bone mass, suggesting that women at age 65 get a bone scan to measure their bone density to determine whether to continue regular mammograms if low bone density was present. If low bone density was present, no further mammograms were recommended because it was not cost-effective and added only 8.2 hours to a woman’s life.

“If this becomes policy, then older women with low bone density or osteoporosis may have a delay in the diagnosis of breast cancer even though they are at high risk because of their age,” according to Diane Schneider, M.D.,M.Sc., UCSD Healthcare specialist in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Osteoporosis, who is the principal investigator of the Breast and Bone Study.

“However, women with newly diagnosed breast cancer have not been systematically studied as far as bone density.”

Therefore, the Breast and Bone Study at UCSD is investigating this issue by finding out what bone density is present in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.

To qualify for the study, women need to be age 65 or older, up to 4 months from definitive surgical diagnosis of any stage breast cancer, and not be using medicines for osteoporosis. Eligible participants will participate in a one-time, one-and-a-half hour clinic visit in which they will received a complete body (DXA) bone density scan which will be fully explained to them and which they can take to their physicians.  The participants will complete a health questionnaire, have blood drawn and provide a urine sample. For information, call 858/822-1001.