Our Stories

Dr. Nancy Cappello's Story

I did what the medical field and the countless number of cancer advocacy groups told me. I ate healthy, exercised daily, had yearly mammograms AND had no first-degree relative with breast cancer. Little did I know at the time that there was information about my health and my life that was being kept from me – the patient – and others like me. I call it the best-kept secret - but it WAS known in the medical community. I have dense breast tissue – and women like me (2/3 of pre-menopausal and 1/4 of post menopausal) have less than a 48% chance of having breast cancer detected by a mammogram.

In November 2003 I had my yearly mammogram and my “Happy Gram” report that I received determined “no significant findings”. Two months later at my annual exam in January, my doctor felt a ridge in my right breast and sent me for another mammogram and an ultrasound. The mammogram revealed “nothing” yet the ultrasound detected a large 2.5 cm tumor, which was later confirmed to be stage 3c breast cancer.

So on February 3, 2004 my life changed when I heard those dreaded words, “You have cancer.” I asked what most women would ask – thinking that I was an educated patient - “Why didn’t the mammogram find my cancer”? It was the first time that I was informed that I have dense breast tissue and its significance. What is dense tissue, I asked? Dense tissue appears white on a mammogram and cancer appears white – thus there is no contrast to detect the cancer (It is like looking for a polar bear in a snowstorm). I asked my physician why wasn’t I informed that I have dense breast tissue and that mammograms are limited in detecting cancer in women with dense breast tissue? The response was “it is not the standard protocol.” So I went on a quest – for research – and found that there have been 7 major studies with over 42,000 women that demonstrate that by supplementing mammograms with ultrasounds increases detection from 48% to 97% for women with dense tissue. I also learned that women with dense tissue have a 5x greater risk of getting breast cancer. They have double jeopardy – a greater risk of having cancer AND are less likely to have cancer detected by mammography alone.

I endured a mastectomy, reconstruction, 8 chemotherapy treatments and 24 radiation treatments. The pathology report confirmed – stage 3c cancer - because the cancer had traveled outside of the breast - to my lymph nodes. Eighteen lymph nodes were removed and thirteen contained cancer – AND REMEMBER -

a "normal" mammogram just weeks before. Is that early detection?

So, how many women are like me and had normal mammograms and may have a hidden intruder stealing their life? That question has perplexed me since my diagnosis and I am on a quest to expose this best-kept secret of dense breast tissue to ensure that women with dense breast tissue receive screening and diagnostic measures to find cancer at its earliest stage.