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Ursula's Story

Name: Ursula
State: Florida
Date of Diagnosis: August, 2009
Age at Diagnosis: 44
Stage of Diagnosis: Stage IIA
Time from "normal" mammogram to diagnosis: Two months
How was cancer detected: By me

I had a digital mammogram every year since I was 40. At 44, two months after a "normal" mammogram, I noticed a dimpling of the breast skin and felt a lump. My doctor was not too concerned since I just had a "clean" mammogram. She sent me for an ultrasound, which found the mass. The biopsy revealed a 1.97cm malignant tumor. After surgery, the pathology report confirmed an additional two cancerous lymph nodes. The cancer had travelled outside of my breasts and ONLY two month earlier my mammography report was NORMAL. Because of my dense breasts my 2 cm tumor was hidden on mammography. Had I been offered a reliable screening tool, such as an Ultrasound or MRI, it is most likely that the cancer would have been found at an earlier stage. My oncologist told me that because of the stage of my cancer, I have a 15% risk of metastasis. We must find cancer early!

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AYD In The News

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.