Breast Cancer Risk After Benign Breast Disease Among Racially Diverse Women: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

A meta-analysis of the existing literature was conducted to quantify breast cancer risk according to histologic subtype of benign breast disease (BBD) among women of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds worldwide. PubMed (Medline), EMBASE (Emtree), and other relevant biomedical databases were searched through February 2026 to identify studies reporting the development of subsequent breast cancer in women diagnosed with either nonproliferative disease (NP), proliferative disease without atypia (PDWA), or atypical hyperplasia (AH). Seven studies met the eligibility criteria. Women of Asian ancestry with PDWA or AH had a substantially higher risk of breast cancer than those with NP. Among Black women, breast cancer risk associated with BBD subtypes was comparable to historically reported risks among White women, whereas associations among Hispanic women were less clear due to greater data limitations. The variable BBD-associated breast cancer risk across racial groups warrants confirmation and underscores the need for further investigation of the mechanisms underlying these differences.