In the News
Are you Dense?
Mammograms may not be enough for women with dense breasts
By: Julie Ryan Evans
Do you know how dense your breasts are? Did you even know you SHOULD know?
I was shocked recently when I went in for an annual exam and my gynecologist handed me an order for a mammogram. My hypochondriac head went into overdrive about what she found during her exam. Why should I – light years away from being 40 (ok maybe not light- years, but still)–need a mammogram?
Turns out they like women in their 30s to get one so they have something to compare it to when you start getting them regularly in your 40s. So OK, that sounds like a good deal, except I’m scared to do it. Scared of the pain, but also scared they’re going to find something that I don’t want them to. But I will go, because I know mammograms can save lives.
Unfortunately, it seems they’re not as good of detectors as I’ve naively believed they are. Deborah Kotz over at U.S. News and World Report captured some recent data and statistics that I find startling.
For example, she quotes a recent study in the Journal of American Medical Association that says, “mammography can detect only about half of all breast cancers in women with dense breast tissue. By combining a mammogram with ultrasound, the success rate jumps to about three quarters.”
It appears that this is one case in which fatty is a good thing. “…most of us never hear that the density category marked on our mammogram determines how reliable the screening is,” Kopf states. “For example, in someone with mostly fatty tissue (known as category 1), mammograms are about 98 percent successful at finding tumors, JAMA study leader Wendie Berg tells me. She’s a radiologist specializing in breast imaging at the American Radiology Services at Johns Hopkins in Lutherville, Md. For women with somewhat fatty breasts (category 2), mammograms can reliably detect about 80 percent of tumors. Those with dense breasts (category 3 or 4), however, have only a 50/50 shot at having their tumor detected before it’s palpable on a physical exam.”
Frankly, I have no idea how dense my breasts are, and I guess that’s one more reason to go check this mammogram off my list of to dos. It’s honestly the one time in my life that I’m hoping to see the word “fatty” next to my name!
Do you know how dense your breasts are? Have you had an ultrasound with your mammogram?