HPLC-MS/MS Measures PFAS, Breast Density Link

PFAS are man-made chemicals found in everyday products that may be linked to cancer, and most people have some level of exposure to them. One way scientists study breast cancer risk is by looking at breast density on mammograms; denser breast tissue tends to be linked with higher risk. By looking at whether PFAS exposure is connected to breast density, researchers hoped to get some clues about how these chemicals might affect breast cancer risk in the first place. So far, however, little research has investigated this connection.

In a recent study, researchers set out to determine whether individual PFAS chemicals, as well as combinations of them, were linked to breast density measurements. To do this, they measured PFAS levels in blood samples using high-pressure liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). A paper based on this work was published in the journal Breast Cancer Research.¹

Why Might Breast Density Be a Useful Marker for Understanding Whether PFAS Chemicals Affect Breast Cancer Risk?

Looking at whether PFAS exposure is linked to breast density could help explain how these chemicals might contribute to breast cancer risk. Breast density basically reflects how much firm, glandular tissue a woman has in her breasts compared to fatty tissue, and this shows up clearly on a mammogram.^2,3 Women with the densest breasts have about four times the breast cancer risk of women with the least dense breasts, and this pattern holds true no matter their age, menopausal status, or race.²

It is already clear that breast density can be affected by things that act like estrogen in the body;hormone therapy after menopause is one well-known example.⁴ Given this, if PFAS chemicals do affect breast cancer risk, breast density might be a place where we would expect to see it show up. But research on the PFAS-breast density connection is still limited. One earlier study found no real link between PFAS and breast density in postmenopausal women,⁵ while a more recent study in younger, premenopausal women found that two specific PFAS chemicals (PFHxS and PFOS) were connected to higher breast density.⁶ Since these findings don't agree with each other, more research, in the opinion of the researchers, is needed to sort out what's really going on.¹

Did the Study Find a Link Between PFAS Exposure and Breast Density?

The research team studied 186 women who had gone through menopause, did not have cancer, and were not taking hormone therapy, using data from the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank. They looked at breast density from mammograms taken around the same time the women gave blood samples. On average, the women were about 59 years old, and most were white (about 73%). Nearly all their mammograms (88%) were done within two years of the blood draw.¹

After accounting for other factors that could influence the results, the researchers did not find any meaningful connection between individual PFAS chemicals and breast density. They also looked at whether a combination of PFAS chemicals together might affect breast density; however, no significant link was found. These results held up even when the team separated participants by body weight or by whether they had breastfed in the past.¹

“Overall,” write the authors of the paper,¹ “our study did not identify strong and significant associations between a panel of major PFASs and mammographic density.”

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References

1. Nasrin, S.; Oulhote, Y.; Grandjean, P. et al. Serum Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) Concentrations and Associations with Mammographic Density in Postmenopausal Women. Breast Cancer Res. 2026.DOI: 10.1186/s13058-026-02340-6
2. Pettersson, A.; Graff, R. E.; Ursin, G. et al. Mammographic Density Phenotypes and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014, 106 (5), dju078. DOI: 10.1093/jnci/dju078
3. Boyd, N. F.; Lockwood, G. A.; Martin, L. J. et al. Mammographic Density as a Marker of Susceptibility to Breast Cancer: A Hypothesis. IARC Sci Publ. 2001, 154, 163-169. PMID: 11220655.
4. Boyd, N. F.; Melnichouk, O.; Martin, L. J. et al. Mammographic Density, Response to Hormones, and Breast Cancer Risk. J Clin Oncol. 2011, 29 (22), 2985-2992. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2010.33.7964
5. Lee, E.; Kinninger, A.; Ursin, G. et al. Serum Levels of Commonly Detected Persistent Organic Pollutants and Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) and Mammographic Density in Postmenopausal Women. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020, 17 (2), 606.DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17020606
6. Ning, Y. S.; Getz, K. R.; Kyeyune, J. K. et al. PFAS Levels, Early Life Factors, and Mammographic Breast Density in Premenopausal Women. Environ Health Perspect. 2024, 132 (9), 97008. DOI: 10.1289/EHP14065