Articles
Dense breast tissue: What it means to have dense breasts
How does dense breast tissue affect breast cancer screening?
Content
What is dense breast tissue?
How do doctors determine if you have dense breast tissue?
What causes dense breast tissue?
Why does breast density matter?
What tests are recommended for breast cancer screening?
Are other tests more effective?
How does dense breast tissue affect breast cancer screening?
Dense breast tissue makes it more difficult to interpret a mammogram, since cancer and dense breast tissue both appear white on a mammogram. Very dense breasts may increase the risk that cancer won't be detected on a mammogram.
Women with very dense breasts who develop breast cancer are more likely than those with very fatty breasts to have their cancer discovered after a recent normal mammogram.
