Home Nancy's Chalkboard Blog NY Times Blog Features Dr. Cappello on Dense Breast Tissue Reporting

NY Times Blog Features Dr. Cappello on Dense Breast Tissue Reporting

Originally Posted Jan 29th, 2015

Nancy M. Cappello, Ph.D. Founder & Director,
Are You Dense, Inc. &
Are You Dense Advocacy, Inc. See Bio

NY TIMES Blog, WELL: Dense Breasts MAY obscure Mammogram Results

Reporter Roni Caryn Rabin writes a blog about her Mammography Results - and her revelation that she has DENSE BREASTS

She called her doctor who emailed her right away, "saying he was not concerned."

Dr. Regina Hooley, CT radiologist from Yale, reports, "Mammograms pick up 2 to 7 cancers per 1000 women screened and subsequent ultrasounds pick up another 3 to 4 small, invasive cancers.

FACT: Twenty years of research demonstrates that having dense breasts is the strongest predictor of the failure of mammography to detect cancer. As density of the breasts increases, the sensitivity of the mammo to 'see' cancer decreases.

"I know, through several national survey-research studies, that women want this information about dense breast tissue to ensure that - in the unlikely event that they have cancer - it is detected at its earliest stage." reports Dr. Cappello, Breast cancer survivor and Founder of Are You Dense Inc. & Are You Dense Advocacy, Inc. Her invasive cancer, missed for years by mammo, once palpable was detected at stage 3C which had metasticized to 13 lymph nodes. The day her 2.5CM cancer was invisible by mammography, it was illuminated on ultrasound. The culprit - DENSE BREASTS.

Shouldn't women know that they are at risk of having their cancer missed, delayed and once diagnosed at a late stage?

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What is Dense Breast Tissue?

How Do I Know if I Have Dense Breast Tissue?

What Do I Do if I Have Dense Breast Tissue?

Are You Dense? Fact #1:
Breast density is one of the strongest predictors of the failure of mammography screening to detect cancer.
Are You Dense? Fact #2:
Two-thirds of pre-menopausal women and 40% of post-menopausal women have dense breast tissue.
Are You Dense? Fact #3:
Adding more sensitive tests to mammography significantly increase detection of invasive cancers that are small and node negative.
Are You Dense? Fact #4:
American College of Radiology describes women with "Dense Breast Tissue" as having a higher than average risk of Breast Cancer.
Are You Dense? Fact #5:
While a mammogram detects 98% of cancers in women with fatty breasts, it finds only 48% in women with dense breasts.
Are You Dense? Fact #6:
A woman at average risk and a woman at high risk have an EQUAL chance of having their cancer masked by mammogram.
Are You Dense? Fact #7:
Women with dense breasts who had breast cancer have a four times higher risk of recurrence than women with less-dense breasts.
Are You Dense? Fact #8:
A substantial proportion of Breast Cancer can be attributed to high breast density alone.
Are You Dense? Fact #9:
Cancer turns up five times more often in women with extremely dense breasts than those with the most fatty tissue.
Are You Dense? Fact #10
There are too many women who are unaware of their breast density, believe their “Happy Gram” when it reports no significant findings and are at risk of receiving a later stage cancer diagnosis.