Why Getting a Mammogram Might Not Be Enough

Unfortunately, the breast cancer rates have sky-rocketed over the past several years, and this aggressive form of cancer is no longer uncommon in women in their late 20s. On the other hand, the cancer detection tools, methods and equipments have also evolved, and mammograms are undoubtedly part of the “heavy artillery” in terms of early cancer detection and treatment. The sooner you discover the cancer, the more chances you have to treat it efficiently – however, there are some factors that may influence the result of the mammograms, and it appears that dense breast tissue is one of them.
Mammograms should be performed regularly for women over the age of 40, and not only. However, it is a known fact that dense breast tissue may interfere with the doctor’s ability to read the mammograms, as it can conceal any potentially cancerous lumps, given the fact that dense tissue appears white on the scan, just like the tumors that may raise concern. Statistically speaking, approximately half of all the breast cancers in women with very dense breast tissue are missed, simply because it is almost impossible to detect a white tumor in a white background, and what’s most concerning is that 40% of all women who get mammograms these days turn out to have dense breast tissue.
Simply put, the breast tissue becomes very dense when the fibrous and the connective tissue is more dense than it normally is, and this is precisely what lowers the sensitivity of the mammography. Unfortunately, there is no specific guideline that teaches women with dense breast tissue what should they do if their mammograms cannot be read. The studies surrounding dense breast tissue are not clear enough, and nobody knows for sure whether this type of tissue may even increase the risk of breast cancer or not. One thing is for sure, though: in some states of the United States of America, such as the state of Connecticut, women are advised to get either an ultrasound

test

or an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) test if their mammograms have come back inconclusive, due to dense breast tissue. The topic of dense breast tissue is certainly subjected to a lot of controversy these days, and while some doctors and medical professionals claims that additional tests such as the MRIs or the ultrasound tests may increase the detection of breast cancer, thus improving the life expectancy of the patient, others say that they are totally unnecessary and that there are no tests or data showing that undergoing such types of scan are effective.