New research is showing that the same test women routinely get to screen for breast cancer may also be a useful tool to identify women at risk for heart disease. This is according to a study scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology’s 65th Annual Scientific Session.

Data from this study show for the first time a link between the amount of calcium in the arteries of the breast — readily visible on digital mammography — and the level of calcium buildup in the coronary arteries. Coronary arterial calcification, or CAC, is considered a very early sign of cardiovascular disease. Importantly, the presence of breast arterial calcification also appears to be an equivalent or stronger risk factor for CAC than other well-established cardiovascular risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Earlier research had shown a link between breast arterial calcification and atherosclerotic disease—even heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular disease events, but researchers said these data provide a more direct relationship between the extent of calcified plaque in the mammary and coronary arteries, as well as a comparison to standard risk evaluation.

“Many women, especially young women, don’t know the health of their coronary arteries. Based on our data, if a mammogram shows breast arterial calcifications it can be a red flag — an ‘aha’ moment — that there is a strong possibility she also has plaque in her coronary arteries,” said Harvey Hecht, M.D., professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and director of cardiovascular imaging at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital, and lead author of the study.

All told, 70 percent of the women who had evidence of breast arterial calcification on their mammogram were also found to have CAC as shown on a non contrast CT scan of the chest. For women under 60 years of age with CAC, half also had breast arterial calcification — an important finding as very few would be thinking about or considered for early signs of heart disease. There were even fewer false positives among younger patients; researchers said that if a younger woman had breast arterial calcification, there was an 83 percent chance she also had CAC.

Notably, breast arterial calcification also appeared to be as strong a predictor for cardiovascular risk as standard risk scores such as the Framingham Risk Score, which underestimates women’s risk, and the 2013 Cholesterol Guidelines Pooled Cohort Equations, which tends to overestimate risk, Hecht said. When researchers added 33 asymptomatic women with established CAD, breast arterial calcification was more powerful than both risk assessment formulas, which suggests the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis may be a more important indicator of heart disease than other risk factors.

“This information is available on every mammogram, with no additional cost or radiation exposure, and our research suggests breast arterial calcification is as good as the standard risk factor-based estimate for predicting risk,” Hecht said. “Using this information would allow at-risk women to be referred for standard CAC scoring and to be able to start focusing on prevention — perhaps even taking a statin when it can make the most difference.”

Multivariate analysis showed that early signs of a buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries were most strongly related to breast arterial calcification. While CAC was about two times as likely with advancing age or high blood pressure, it was three times more likely with breast arterial calcification.

“The message is if a woman is getting a mammogram, look for breast arterial calcification. It's a freebie and provides critical information that could be lifesaving for some women,” Hecht said, adding he hopes these findings will prompt clinicians, who rarely report breast arterial calcification, to routinely report not just the presence or absence of breast arterial calcifications but also to estimate and note the amount. 

“The more breast arterial calcification a women has, the more likely she is to have calcium in her heart’s arteries as well. If all it requires is to take a closer look at the images, how can we ignore it?,” he said.