Measuring how normal breast tissue lights up on contrast mammograms to spot breast cancer risk
Official title: Quantitative background parenchymal enhancement, measured on contrast-enhanced mammogram, as a novel marker of breast cancer risk
Funded at Netherlands Cancer Institute · NIH-11390199 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project checks whether measuring how normal breast tissue brightens on contrast-enhanced mammograms can help predict breast cancer risk for women who get mammography.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Netherlands Cancer Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Amsterdam, Netherlands) |
| Project start | April 2, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $61,563 |
| NIH project number | 3R37CA284134-03S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11390199 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Women undergoing contrast-enhanced mammography or considering supplemental breast imaging—especially those with dense breasts or who want more personalized screening—would be the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Women who do not receive contrast imaging, cannot receive contrast agents (for example due to allergy or kidney problems), or who are at very low breast cancer risk may not directly benefit from this work.
What this research studies
Researchers will use contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) images to measure background parenchymal enhancement (BPE), which is how much normal breast tissue brightens after contrast. They will apply quantitative image-analysis methods to create a reproducible BPE score from CEM and compare those scores with standard mammographic density and with MRI-based BPE when available. The team will link these imaging measures to cancer diagnoses or outcomes to see if CEM-BPE identifies women at higher risk. If CEM-BPE predicts risk independently of density, it could be used more widely because CEM is increasingly available compared with MRI.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help identify women at higher breast cancer risk using a widely available contrast mammogram, enabling more personalized screening.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research has shown that BPE measured on MRI is linked to breast cancer risk, but applying BPE measurement to contrast-enhanced mammography is newer and less proven.
Where this research is happening
-
Netherlands Cancer Institute
Amsterdam, Netherlands Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Watt, Gordon Patrick — Netherlands Cancer Institute
- Study coordinator: Watt, Gordon Patrick
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.