Comparison of Breast Parenchyma in Chest Radiotreated Survivors of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Healthy Women with Brca Mutation Carriers: A Case Control Study

Abstract Increased background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) is an imaging biomarker of higher risk of BC. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the distribution of BPE patterns and the possible onset of BC in long-term HL survivors treated with chemotherapy and RT and to compare them with age-matched women with BRCA mutation carriers and without a history of cancer. 62 women, long-term survivors of HL for at least 15 years and 62 consecutive women of the same age with BRCA mutation carriers, underwent screening with dynamic contrast magnetic resonance imaging. BPE was comparable in the two groups: 31 cases (50%) of moderate and marked BPE in the long-surviving HL group and 30 (48%) in the BRCA carrier control group. In the long-surviving HL group, 3 (5%) malignant lesions were found, two of these (ductal carcinoma in situ-DCIS, n = 1; non-special type-NST, n = 1) had moderate BPE lesions in the contralateral breast and one (NST ) marked BPE. We found a BPE comparable to healthy women at high risk for BC with BRCA mutation carriers. Future research should be directed at examining the underlying cancer biology and genetic susceptibility of treatment-induced tumors.