Dense Breasts
Mammograms reveal hidden details about your breasts, including whether you have dense breasts. Nearly half of women over 40 who have mammograms have dense breasts.
While it doesn’t affect the appearance of your breasts, the condition is a risk factor for breast cancer and requires advanced mammography.
At Maiden Lane Medical in Manhattan, the team offers state-of-the-art 3D mammograms to evaluate your breast health. Call the office or schedule an appointment online today if you’re due for a mammogram or have concerns about your breast health.
What are dense breasts?
Your breasts consist of three types of tissue.
Fibrous tissue holds your breast in place. Glandular tissue forms lobes that produce breast milk. Glandular breast tissue also includes the ducts that carry milk to your nipple. Fatty tissue fills the rest of your breast, creating the size and shape of your breasts.
Dense breasts have a higher proportion of fibrous and glandular tissue compared to fatty tissue.
Having dense breasts is relatively common. Approximately 40% of women have evenly dense breast tissue, and 10% have extremely dense breasts.
Another 40% of women have a few areas of dense breast tissue scattered throughout their breasts, and only 10% of women have breasts of nearly all fatty tissue.
What causes breast density?
Your genes influence the consistency of your breast tissue. Other factors that affect your breast density include your age, whether you’ve had children, and if you use hormone therapy for menopause.
Your breasts are more likely to be dense if you’re younger or if you haven’t had children. Menopause-related hormone therapy can increase your breast density later in life.
How do you identify dense breast tissue?
Our radiologist identifies breast density while examining your mammogram. The images show the amount and distribution of dense (fibrous and glandular) tissue.
For example, if you have primarily fatty breasts, your mammogram is dark as the X-ray passes through fat easily. However, if you have dense breasts, your mammogram reveals lighter patches as your fibrous and glandular tissue blocks the X-ray.
How do dense breasts affect mammograms?
Dense breast tissue can make a mammogram more challenging to read. You’re more likely to require advanced mammography and breast ultrasound imaging to create sufficiently detailed images of your breast tissue.
The dense tissue can hide or disguise tumors or abnormal breast tissue. If you have dense breasts, you might be called back for follow-up testing inducing extra mammograms, MRIs, or biopsies.
Are dense breasts a risk factor for breast cancer?
Breast density is just one of many risk factors for breast cancer. This risk is separate from the risk of breast cancer going undetected in women with dense breasts.
However, having dense breasts doesn’t increase your risk of dying from breast cancer.
Should I have more breast cancer screenings if I have dense breasts?
Your provider here at Maiden Lane Medical provides personalized advice on screening for breast cancer. In most cases, women with dense breasts require advanced 3D mammograms and breast ultrasounds. Fortunately, we offer this state-of-the-art testing here in our Midtown office.
Here in New York State, we’re required to notify you if your breast tissue is dense. Additionally, your insurance should cover extra testing required because of your breast density.
Call the office today or schedule your mammogram online today if you’re due for a screening or have any concerns about breast cancer.
Marina Arutyunyan DO, MPH
Board Certified Gynecologist