News and Events

NATIONAL SURVEY SHOWS 95% OF WOMEN DO NOT KNOW THEIR BREAST DENSITY DESPITE INCREASED CANCER RISK!

To read the entire Press Release click Press Release - Unaware of Breast Density!

NEW YORK, May 20, 2010 - A national survey of U.S. women ages 40 and older revealed good news and bad news about women’s overall knowledge of breast health and how to reduce their risk of cancer.  Seventy-four percent indicated they have had a mammogram with 66 percent indicating they get mammograms on a regular basis.  That’s the good news in the face of concerns that controversial breast screening guidelines issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force would discourage women from getting regular mammograms.  The bad news is that 95 percent of women ages 40+ do not know their breast density and nearly 90 percent did not know it increases the risk of developing breast cancer. Compounding the issue was the fact that doctors have spoken to less than one in 10 women ages 40+ (9%) about breast density.  The low awareness of breast density and the fact that doctors are not talking to patients about its link to increased cancer risk is particularly troublesome to breast cancer survivor turned advocate Nancy M. Cappello, Ph.D., founder of Are You Dense, (www.areyoudense.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to informing the public about dense breast tissue.

To help women learn more about breast density and gather information for conversations about their breast health with their doctors, U-Systems also announced the launch of a dedicated web site for the SOMO•INSIGHT Study.  Offering detailed information on the study, participation guidelines and an online eligibility quiz, the SOMO•INSIGHT web page also provides detailed background on breast density and Automated Breast Ultrasound.   For more information and a list of participating clinical sites, call 866-364-6777 or visit http://www.somoinsightstudy.org.