A review on automatic mammographic density and parenchymal segmentation

Breast cancer is themost frequently diagnosed cancer inwomen.However, the exact cause(s) of breast cancer still remains unknown. Early detection, precise identification of women at risk, and application of appropriate disease prevention measures are by far the most effective way to tackle breast cancer.There aremore than 70 common genetic susceptibility factors included in the current nonimage-based risk prediction models (e.g., the Gail and the Tyrer-Cuzickmodels). Image-based risk factors, such as mammographic densities and parenchymal patterns, have been established as biomarkers but have not been fully incorporated in the risk prediction models used for risk stratification in screening and/or measuring responsiveness to preventive approaches. Within computer aided mammography, automatic mammographic tissue segmentation methods have been developed for estimation of breast tissue composition to facilitate mammographic risk assessment.This paper presents a comprehensive reviewof automatic mammographic tissue segmentationmethodologies developed over the past two decades and the evidence for risk assessment/density classification using segmentation. The aim of this review is to analyse how engineering advances have progressed and the impact automatic mammographic tissue segmentation has in a clinical environment, as well as to understand the current research gaps with respect to the incorporation of image-based risk factors in non-image-based risk prediction models.