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Breast Density National Survey

Mayo Clinic Study: Awareness of Breast Density Varies Among U.S. Women

Journal of Clinical Oncology 3/2015

March 3, 2015

Study results from a national survey in October, 2012 of U.S. women about their knowledge of breast density were recently reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology -- Awareness of Breast Density and Its Impact on Breast Cancer Detection and Risk. Three states had laws in effect mandating breast density reporting (CT, TX, and VA). Since then, 18 additional states have passed laws and in 2015, several states have introduced or plan to introduce density reporting legislation.

Forty-three percent of women reported discussions about breast density with health care providers -- nearly a 400 percent increase from a national survey conducted 2.5 years earlier in April, 2010, when 9 percent reported having these discussions. This tailwind is a testament to patient-led advocacy efforts to report density to the patient as part of the mammography report and in turn, expose the critical risk of a major harm of mammography screening, under diagnosis of cancer in dense breasts.

Dr. Rhodes and colleagues also found that respondents from Connecticut were more likely than residents of other states to be aware of the potential masking effect of breast density on mammographic detection of cancer and were more likely to have discussed breast density with a health care provider. Connecticut was the first state to pass breast density legislation in 2009. To date, legislation mandating disclosure of breast density information has been passed in 21 states.

Read the Press Release Here

Jan 5, 2011 Dr. Deb Rhodes Compelling TED Talk about the Importance of Breast Density

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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.