New content on Dense Breasts!

Moderators

We just added this content on Dense Breasts!

Dense Breasts

Having dense breasts means there is more fibrous tissue (or connective tissue) and glandular tissue (the type of tissue that produces milk) in your breasts than fatty tissue. That's why dense breast tissue is also called "fibroglandular tissue." In this section you'll learn about:

• How breast density is measured?
• Why breast density matters?
• How to find out if you have dense breasts
• Cancer screening for women with dense breasts
• Other steps you can take

Read more by clicking on the above link and please let us know if it's helpful.

MinusTwo

Mods - great summary. Thanks for all the details. May I suggest one change? Add the date of this report at the top so down the road people will know if there might be updates.

Beesie

Mods, excellent content. I really appreciate that you included this:

"You can't feel dense breast tissue through the skin, so if you have firmer breasts, it does not necessarily mean you have dense breasts.

Dense breast tissue can only be seen on a mammogram. While fatty tissue appears dark on a mammogram, dense tissue appears white."

The fact that we can't feel our dense breasts is not understood at all - many women think that the fibrocystic lumps and bumps that they feel are the same as breast density. So I'm glad that I will be able to refer posters to this section to explain this.

One change suggestion from me. What's missing - and is critically important, I think - is a discussion on age and breast density. Because while it's true that 40% of women have heterogenously dense breasts, among pre-menopausal women, it's closer to 60%. Over 15% of pre-menopausal women have extremely dense breasts. So until menopause, high breast density is normal. Still a screening issue, of course, but normal and already baked into the relatively low breast cancer rates of women that age.

The Relationship of Mammographic Density and Age: Implications for Breast Cancer Screening https://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.10.6049

"Seventy-four percent of patients between 40 and 49 years old had dense breasts. This percentage decreased to 57% of women in their 50s. However, 44% of women in their 60s and 36% of women in their 70s had dense breasts as characterized on their screening mammograms."

This clarification is important because it's so common to see posts from younger women who are worried, some to the point of considering preventative measures, because they've been told that they have dense breasts.

MinusTwo

Beesie - right on !!!

Mavericksmom

I too think the summary is great! I also liked Beesie’s comments. I am a bit confused (maybe due to being tired from a long work week) but why, if dense breasts have more cancer risk, and younger women have more dense breasts,does the actual risk of breast cancer become the greatest as we age and the breasts become more fatty?

Beesie

Mavericksmom, that's because other than being female, getting older is the single greatest risk factor for developing breast cancer. Breast cancer develops when our cells stop working properly. The chances of cells failing when we are younger is very low but as we age it's natural that our cells (or specific genes within cells) will start to break down.

Breast density is an additional risk factor that is added on top of the base risk that we face for being female and for being whatever age we happen to be. Younger women start off with an extremely low risk because they have young healthy strong cells. High breast density might increase a younger woman's risk by 50%, but 50% on top of a very small number is still a small number.

The following chart shows breast cancer risk by age. Since these figures are averages for the population at large, the 'higher risk' for the 74% of women in their 40s who have dense breasts is already built into these numbers. Similarly, the fact that older women have less dense and more fatty breasts is also baked into the these figures. That said, these risk percentages represent 'average' risk, and there is always a range. At whatever age, someone with extremely dense breast tissue may have a risk level that is somewhat higher than this average, while someone who has very fatty breasts may have a risk level that is somewhat lower than the average.

Moderators

Beesie, thank you for your insightful thoughts! We are taking this back to the editorial team to see if we can address your suggestions in the content.

--The Mods

Utahmom

Wonderful explanation of our breasts. My doctor always called then "knotty". It has always been hard for me to tell.what was what doing my SBE.

I am in the unfortunate 10 to 15% for extremely dense.

After giving birth to my first child at 43 and breastbfeesing for 26 months, it was on the first mammogram at 26 or 28 months that we found the first hyperplasia that ended up being mild along with PASH. Then I had about 3 years of screenings that were still holding and then ADH appeared in the other breast. Negstive for Brca 1 and Brca2 but my number is 57 based on history and family.

So, we have chosen as a family after a year to make a progressive decision and move forward with a double.mastectomy and diep.flap. While I am scared about the procedure, I am thinking about my young son who is 9 years old and that I am not a person that can live worrying all the time about the mammogram and then the mris every year. I know me and i become hyper focused and stop living in the present appreciating my blessings.

Every woman has to chart her journey. I am so grateful that you're have provided this forum for me to learn from others who have gone before. It has provided answers and help me grow.to every woman on this journey, may you be blessed and thank you for sharing your life with the rest of us.

AngieB92

I appreciate this topic and Beesie’s comments. Prior to being diagnosed, I had a conversation with the surgeon who performed all of my biopsies. This was just prior to the biopsy before I was diagnosed. We talked about my dense breasts and I made the comment that of a woman has dense breasts that should be considered high risk and the offer of a double mastectomy/reconstruction should be given (for insurance) much like surgeries that BRCA+ patients can get. He was adamant about how invasive BMXs were etc. I remembered that when I was diagnosed and scheduled to see him for surgery options. He was not a fan of BMXs - even though I had dense breasts. I went to another medical facility and my breast surgeon understood my stance on dense breasts and proactive surgery. Dense breasts aren’t something to take lightly.....no pun intended.