Consecutive radiography of breast slices for estimation of glandular volume and detection of small subclinical lesions. A comparison between Japan and Hawaii Japanese.

A technique of consecutive radiography of the serially sliced breast was evolved and applied to a comparative study on the breast of Japanese in Japan (75 subjects) and Hawaii (49). Increased mammary fat accounts for an increase in the size of the Hawaii Japanese breast (mean; 152.4 cm3) in comparison with that in Japan (82.5 cm3). However, the glandular volume calculated from the radiography and lobular structures in histology were not significantly different in the two groups. A small subclinical lesion measuring over 3 mm in diameter in a histological section was radiographically detected. In Hawaii, duct-epithelial hyperplasia and apocrine metaplasia were significantly more prevalent in Japan, and the former lesion was most conspicuous in the large mammary gland.