The problem with dense breast tissue
Breast tissue can be problematic for two different reasons:
- One is that women who have dense breast tissue have a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer. It's not necessarily the largest risk factor by any means, but it does slightly increase their risk.
- The other significant component is when we look at dense breast tissue on a mammogram, it appears white on the mammogram and tumors appear white on the mammogram as well. So, if there's a small tumor that's within that dense breast tissue, it may be more difficult for the radiologist to find that tumor.
So what is the new FDA regulation for notifying women of dense breast tissue?
So for women who have dense breast tissue, they will be notified with a letter that is sent out to their homes to let them know that they have an increased amount of dense breast tissue. It'll indicate whether or not there were normal findings or abnormal findings.
And then at the end of your letter, it'll say something similar to this, which will say your mammogram shows that your breast tissue is dense, dense breast tissue is common, and is not abnormal.
However, dense breast tissue can make it harder to evaluate the results of your mammogram and may also be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.
And then it will go on to tell you to discuss this with your physician to determine if you should do any additional imaging.
Isn't a doctor supposed to tell you that anyway?
Although a radiologist is a physician and they are reading the mammogram when it's a screening mammogram, they can just send out their results as a letter to the patient. They will call the patient if there are abnormal results because they're going to want that patient to come back for additional testing.
But if it's a normal screen screening mammogram, they will likely just send out a letter to your home and notify you that it is normal. And then place this notice in your letter if you do have dense breast tissue.
You want to make sure that a woman does indeed see this information.
We want you to read your letter. If you do get that notification that you have dense breast tissue, if you are under the care of a primary care doctor or a gynecologist, obviously, let them know that you received this letter, that these are your concerns, and discuss it with them.
Or alternatively, if you don't, it would be a good time to seek out a physician to evaluate if there's more to do.
There are about 38 states that have similar laws now. And in Texas, I believe it's called Henda’s law. What would the new FDA regulations do or change from what we have now?
So now it means every state across the United States of America will need to include this as part of their mammogram screenings. So, as you said, up until now, 38 states have adopted this law and Texas is one of them that was adopted in 2011.
But now with the FDA approving it, every state will be obligated to place that declaration on the mammogram if the patients have dense breast tissue, which will amount to about 50% of patients.
I guess you can’t have too many notifications on this issue.
Well, there's a little bit of a downside, too, to this notification.
It can be alarming to patients to get this letter being told that their mammogram is normal. And then in addition to being told it's normal, but you have this dense breast tissue and now I even think you may need additional testing or we're not really sure you can be at an increased risk for breast cancer. But how much of an increased risk does the patient really know when they get the letter?
So, unfortunately, it can provoke a little anxiety for patients when they receive these notifications, but that's where a discussion with your physician can be very helpful. They can help you determine if you are a high-risk patient or not a high-risk patient, and then hopefully alleviate some of the anxiety that's associated with getting this notification that you have dense breast tissue.
RESOURCES:
FDA to Implement New Mammogram Regulations to Support Women with Dense Breasts
