Researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia have uncovered that inflammation is the culprit behind breast density. A paper discussing the findings was published this month in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

Women with dense breasts are more likely to develop breast cancer in the future. A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2014 found that over 40 percent of women between ages 40 and 74 have heterogeneously or extremely dense breasts.

Lead researcher, Wendy Ingman, and her team induced a low level of chronic inflammation in lab models and found that a protein called CCL2 is what causes the increase in inflammation. That led to an increase in density in the tissue and an elevated risk of breast cancer.

Certain types of anti-inflammatory medications, like aspirin, are already known to lessen the risk of breast cancer, but they’re associated with longer term side effects. Because of that, physicians don’t recommend that women take those medications for that purpose.

Ingman believes that this research may help to identify the women most at risk of inflammation-associated breast cancer by measuring their breast density and determine those who will benefit most from anti-inflammatory treatment.

Ingman and her team plan to conduct more studies to find the best treatments for reducing inflammation. They will also investigate the relationship between density and inflammation in a large population of women.

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