Why Is Breast Density Important?

Breast density?reflects the amount of fibrous and glandular tissue in a woman's breasts compared with the amount of fatty tissue in the breasts, as seen on a mammogram.

A mammogram shows how dense your breasts are. When you get the results of your mammogram, you may also be told if your breasts have low or high density. Women with dense breasts have a higher risk of getting breast cancer.

A woman's breast has three kinds of tissue:

1. Fibrous tissue: holds the breast tissue in place
2. Glandular tissue: the part of the breast that produces milk, called the?lobes.?The tubes that carry milk to the nipple are called ducts.?Together, fibrous and glandular tissue are called fibroglandular tissue.
3. Fatty tissue: fills the space between the fibrous tissue, lobes, and ducts. It gives the breasts their size and shape.

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On a mammography report, breast density is assigned to one of the following four categories:

• The breasts are almost entirely fatty (about 10% of women)
• A few areas of dense tissue are scattered through the breasts (about 40% of women)
• The breasts are evenly dense throughout (about 40% of women)
• The breasts are extremely dense (about 10% of women)

Women in the first two categories are said to have low-density, non-dense, or fatty breasts. Women in the second two categories are said to have high-density or dense breasts. About half of the women who are 40 years old or older have dense breasts.

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The image on the left shows a mostly fatty breast, and the image on the right shows a dense breast.

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Breast Cancer Risk

Women with dense breasts have a higher chance of developing breast cancer. The denser your breasts are, the higher your risk is. Scientists don't know for sure why this is true.

Breast cancer patients who have dense breasts are not?more likely to die from breast cancer than patients with non-dense (fatty) breasts.?

Mammograms

Dense tissue can hide cancers. Fibrous and glandular tissue looks white on a mammogram, so does a possible tumor. Because it is hard to tell the difference between a tumor and dense breast tissue on a mammogram, a small tumor may be missed.

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Who Is More Likely to Have Dense Breasts?

The density of your breasts can change over time. Generally, you are more likely to have dense breasts if you:

• Are younger
• Are Asian woman
• Are pregnant or breastfeeding
• Are taking hormone replacement therapy
• Have a lower body weight.

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What Should I Do If I Have Dense Breasts?

Talk to your doctor about your personal risk of getting breast cancer. Dense breasts are just one of several risk factors for breast cancer. Your doctor will also think about other factors, like your age and family history of cancer.

Different tests may be able to find some cancers that are missed on a mammogram.

Your doctor may suggest one of the following tests:

Breast ultrasound: machine called sonograms, that uses sound waves to take pictures of areas inside the breast. Breast US scan is more suitable for younger age (below 40) or dense breast women to detect early changes or suspicious breast lesions that might turn to be cancers.

Breast tomosynthesis: also known as 3D mammography, provides better cancer detection, fewer call-backs and greater peace of mind. It is an advanced type of mammography that provides a clearer, more accurate view compared to digital mammography alone.

Conventional digital mammography takes one image of overlapping breast tissue, making?it difficult to see cancer. Breast tomosynthesis takes many images of the entire breast. It lets our breast radiologists see through layers of tissue and examine areas of concern from all angles.?Breast tomosynthesis plus digital mammography has been our standard?protocol for all screening mammograms here at Jiahui Breast Institute.

Benefits of Breast Tomosynthesis:

1. Improved breast cancer detection rates, especially invasive cancers
2. Earlier detection of small breast cancers that may be hidden during digital mammography
3. Greater accuracy in pinpointing size, shape and location of abnormalities
4. Fewer unnecessary biopsies or additional tests
5. Greater likelihood of detecting multiple breast tumors, which occur in 15% of breast cancer patients
6. Clearer images of dense breasts

Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).?A kind of body scan that uses a magnet linked to a computer. The MRI scan makes detailed pictures of areas inside the breast.

Breast MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) uses radio waves and strong magnets to make detailed pictures of the inside of the breast. Can be used for breast cancer screening in high risk women, for high density breasts or to assess the extent of a breast cancer.