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Breast Cancer Research
Published in: Breast Cancer Research 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Non-invasive optical spectroscopic monitoring of breast development during puberty

Authors: Lothar Lilge, Mary Beth Terry, Jane Walter, Dushanthi Pinnaduwage, Gord Glendon, Danielle Hanna, Mai-Liis Tammemagi, Angela Bradbury, Saundra Buys, Mary Daly, Esther M. John, Julia A. Knight, Irene L. Andrulis

Published in: Breast Cancer Research | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Tanner staging (TS), a five-stage classification indicating no breast tissue (TS1) to full breast development (TS5), is used both in health research and clinical care to assess the onset of breast development (TS2) and duration in each stage. Currently, TS is measured both visually and through palpation but non-invasive methods will improve comparisons across settings.

Methods

We used optical spectroscopy (OS) measures from 102 girls at the Ontario site of the LEGACY girls study (average age 12 years, range 10.0–15.4 years) to determine whether breast tissue optical properties map to each TS. We further examined whether these properties differed by age, body mass index (BMI), and breast cancer risk score (BCRS) by examining the major principal components (PC).

Results

Age and BMI increased linearly with increasing TS. Eight PCs explained 99.9% of the variation in OS data. Unlike the linear increase with age and BMI, OS components had distinct patterns by TS: the onset of breast development (TS1 to TS2) was marked by elevation of PC3 scores indicating an increase in adipose tissue and decrease in signal from the pectoral muscle; transition to TS3 was marked by elevation of PC6 and PC7 and decline of PC2 scores indicating an increase in glandular or dense tissue; and transition to TS4+ by decline of PC2 scores representing a further increase in glandular tissue relative to adipose tissue. Of the eight PCs, three component scores (PC4, PC5, and PC8) remained in the best-fitting model of BCRS, suggesting different levels of collagen in the breast tissue by BCRS.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that serial measures of OS, a non-invasive assessment of breast tissue characteristics, can be used as an objective outcome that does not rely on visual inspection or palpation, for studying drivers of breast development.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Non-invasive optical spectroscopic monitoring of breast development during puberty
Authors
Lothar Lilge
Mary Beth Terry
Jane Walter
Dushanthi Pinnaduwage
Gord Glendon
Danielle Hanna
Mai-Liis Tammemagi
Angela Bradbury
Saundra Buys
Mary Daly
Esther M. John
Julia A. Knight
Irene L. Andrulis
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Breast Cancer Research / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1465-542X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13058-017-0805-x

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