Tumor growth rate estimations in a breast cancer screening population

Tumor growth rate estimations can provide useful information about tumor progression and aggressiveness. Understanding the breast cancer progression and aggressiveness could aid with personalized screening/follow-up, treatment options, and prognosis. This paper reports a preliminary estimation of the tumor volume doubling time (TVDT) for cancers detected during the Malmö Breast Tomosynthesis Screening Trial (MBTST). The trial included 14 848 women in whom 139 cancers were detected. Out of those, 101 spiculated or circumscribed masses, had prior images available, making them suitable for tumor growth evaluation. In the preliminary analysis of images from 30 women, tumor size was measured in mammograms from MBTST and prior images. The analyzed cases were selected among women with visible tumors in two consecutive screening exams. The tumor size was measured in two orthogonal directions. The average of the two measurements was used in the analysis. The mean time and the corresponding standard deviation (SD) between the two consecutive mammograms were 744 ± 73 days. The mean TVDT and SD were 637 ± 428 days (range 159-2373 days). Future work will include the analysis of a larger number of women and a stratification of TVDT related to screening intervals.