Is there a positive association between mammographic density and bone mineral density?

Excerpt

In a recent issue of this journal, Crandall and colleagues [1] reported a positive association between percent mammo-graphic density and bone mineral density at the hip and lumbar spine in postmenopausal women. These associations were only observed after excluding women who were "recent" users of hormone replacement therapy and even then were of marginal, and not independent, significance (p = 0.04 and p = 0.08, respectively). The previously reported null findings from the larger studies by Kerlikowske and colleagues [2] and Buist and colleagues [3] were discounted by Crandall and colleagues [1] for not having stratified by hormone replacement therapy use. In a recent publication from our twin study we found no overlap between the genetic determinants of variation in percent mammographic density and bone mineral density [4]. …