# Breast cancer risk prediction with a modified BOADICEA model in Danish women

**Authors:** Sif Ingibergsdóttir Novitski, Rikke Louise Jacobsen, Timo Röder, Peter Christoffer Holm, Michael Schwinn, Ilse Vejborg, My Catarina von Euler-Chelpin, Elsebeth Lynge, Sisse R. Ostrowski, Erik Sørensen, Ole Birger Pedersen, Christian Erikstrup, Bitten Aagaard, Henrik Hjalgrim, Michael Schwinn, Michael Schwinn, Erik Sørensen, Sisse Rye Ostrowski, Ole Birger Pedersen, Christian Erikstrup, Bitten Aagaard Jensen, Henrik Hjalgrim, Thórunn Rafnar, Kari Stefansson, Henrik Ullum, Karina Banasik, Søren Brunak, Thórunn Rafnar, Kari Stefansson, Nasim Mavaddat, Lorenzo Ficorella, Antonis C. Antoniou, Henrik Ullum, Karina Banasik, Søren Brunak, Stig Egil Bojesen

PMC · DOI: 10.1038/s41416-025-03247-3 · British Journal of Cancer · 2025-11-12

## TL;DR

A modified BOADICEA model was used to predict breast cancer risk in Danish women, showing good accuracy and potential for clinical use.

## Contribution

The model integrates polygenic risk scores, lifestyle factors, and mammographic density to improve breast cancer risk prediction.

## Key findings

- The 5-year model achieved an AUC of 0.80 and correctly identified 94.8% of breast cancer cases in the highest-risk group.
- Sensitivity was 0.46 in the 10-year model for women aged 50-69.
- The model demonstrated good calibration and specificity in predicting breast cancer risks.

## Abstract

Breast cancer risk prediction approaches clinical practice. The BOADICEA risk model has been updated to consider common breast cancer risk variants, lifestyle/hormonal risk factors and mammographic density (MD).

49,494 women from the Danish Blood Donor Study were followed for up to 10 years. Modified BOADICEA risks within 5 and 10 years were calculated based on a polygenic breast cancer risk score combined with lifestyle/hormonal risk factors. MD was only known for 4608 women. Calibration was assessed by comparing observed and predicted risks. AUC and Harrell’s concordance index (C-index) were used to assess discriminative ability and sensitivities and specificities were obtained for high and low-risk groups.

Within 5 and 10 years, 367 and 617 women had breast cancer. The 5-year model achieved an AUC of 0.80 (95% CI:0.78–0.81), sensitivity of 0.34 and specificity of 0.92 for all and an AUC of 0.61 (95% CI:0.58–0.65) for the 50-69-year-aged. For this age-group, the sensitivity was 0.46 in the 10-year model. 50% of women with the highest 5-year risk predictions, identified 94.8% of those with incident breast cancers.

The modified BOADICEA risk model provided valid risks among a large retrospective cohort of Danish women.

## Linked entities

- **Diseases:** breast cancer (MONDO:0004989)

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** Breast cancer (MESH:D001943)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## Figures

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## References

8 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12820242/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12820242