Are dense breasts a risk factor for breast cancer? This is breast cancer that is diagnosed within 12 months of a normal mammogram result.
Dense breasts can also put women at higher risk of interval breast cancer. Women with dense breasts may be called back for follow-up tests more often than women with fatty breasts. As a result, mammography is less sensitive in women with dense breasts - that is, it is more likely to miss cancer. That's because dense breast tissue and some abnormal breast changes, such as calcifications and tumors, appear as white areas in the mammogram. Mammograms can be harder to read in women with dense breasts than in women with fatty breasts. Does having dense breast tissue affect a woman’s mammogram? Breasts are classified as “dense” if they fall in the heterogeneously dense (C) or extremely dense (D) categories. Breasts can be almost entirely fatty (A), have scattered areas of dense fibroglandular breast tissue (B), have many areas of glandular and connective tissue (C), or be extremely dense (D). The four breast density categories are shown in this image. If you are told that you have dense breasts, it means that you have either heterogeneously dense or extremely dense breasts. (D) Extremely dense breast tissue, found in about 10% of women.(C) Heterogeneously dense breast tissue with many areas of glandular tissue and fibrous connective tissue, found in about 40% of women.(B) Scattered areas of dense glandular tissue and fibrous connective tissue ( scattered fibroglandular breast tissue) found in about 40% of women.(A) Almost entirely fatty breast tissue, found in about 10% of women.BI-RADS classifies breast density into four categories, as follows: Doctors who review mammograms are called radiologists. This system, developed by the American College of Radiology, helps doctors to interpret and report back mammogram findings. How is breast density categorized?ĭoctors use the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System, called BI-RADS, to group different types of breast density. Factors associated with higher breast density include using postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and having a low body mass index. Factors associated with lower breast density include increasing age, having children, and using tamoxifen.
Breast density is often inherited, but other factors can influence it.
Nearly half of all women age 40 and older who get mammograms are found to have dense breasts. For this reason, dense breasts are sometimes referred to as mammographically dense breasts. Dense breast tissue cannot be felt in a clinical breast exam or in a breast self-exam. Only a mammogram can show if a woman has dense breasts. Dense breasts have relatively high amounts of glandular tissue and fibrous connective tissue and relatively low amounts of fatty breast tissue. Breast density is a term that describes the relative amount of these different types of breast tissue as seen on a mammogram. These growths need to be biopsied, as they may up your breast cancer risk slightly.Breasts contain glandular, connective, and fat tissue. However, if an ultrasound reveals that a cyst contains both fluid and solid matter, or only solid matter, you have what's called a complex cyst. No one knows what causes these fibrocystic breast changes, though experts believe they may be linked with monthly hormones.įibrocystic breast changes don't raise your risk of breast cancer. They can hurt, and the pain often gets worse before your period. This is the same kind of tissue that makes up ligaments and scar tissue.Ĭysts are small fluid-filled sacs, which are usually round and can also move around your breast. These non-cancerous, or benign, changes in breast tissue are called fibrocystic changes, and they're most common in women of child-bearing age-usually in their 30s or 40s-but can affect women at any age.īreast fibrosis means you have extra connective tissue in your breast that can feel lumpy. According to the American Cancer Society, many breast lumps turn out to be caused by fibrosis and/or cysts.
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